Bullying hurts children’s mental health
This story seems a bit obvious to us — common sense would dictate bullying would have some sort of psychological affect, just as parental verbal abuse does. But a new study is interesting in that it used identical twins to prove it:
A new study provides strong evidence that being bullied can cause children to develop depression and anxiety.
Among identical twin pairs in which one experienced bullying between the ages of 7 and 9 and the other did not, the bullied twin was significantly more likely to have symptoms of internalizing problems at age 10, Dr. Louise Arsenault of King’s College, London, and her colleagues found.
Internalizing problems are psychological problems in which negativity is directed inward toward the self, such as depression, as opposed to outwardly, such as conduct disorder.
Information from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23035686/
