May 20, 2015

the long-term impacts of childhood bullying

Traditionally childhood bullying has been seen by many as a common and almost inevitable part of growing up, with lasting consequences fortunately happening rarely. However, there has been growing evidence of long-term impacts that can last far into adulthood. Now researchers have assessed whether there are not only psychological impacts, but also physical ones – specifically in relation to obesity and inflammation.

The findings, published in Psychological Medicine, are based on a study of all children born in England, Scotland and Wales during one week in 1958.

Two of the authors came to the Science Media Centre to discuss issues such as:

• How big an impact does bullying have on obesity and inflammation?
• Is there a linear relationship between the amount or degree of bullying and the impact?
• What could be the biological mechanism for this effect?
• Is there a difference between men and women, and if so, why?
• How sure can you be that the findings are causation and not correlation related to socio-economic factors?
• From a public health perspective, do we know how much of an effect there would be if all bullying ceased?

Speakers:

Prof Louise Arsenault, Professor of Developmental Psychology at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience

Dr Andrea Danese, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at King’s college London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience