Bullying has negative effects on children and adolescents. Those who suffered from bullying might not only be emotionally withdrawn but also experience difficulties in interacting with others. As a matter of fact, they are also more likely to experience depression and anxiety, as well as feelings of sadness and loneliness.
However, a new Canadian study suggested that bullying during teenage years may also lead to health problems in later life.
The study, which is published at the Journal of Adolescent Health, revealed that being physically and emotionally bullied as a teen was associated with health complaints in adulthood such as headaches, dizziness, backaches, insomnia, abdominal pain and poor body image.
"Peer victimization puts adolescents at risk for immediate and long-term physical health difficulties. This study highlights the unique effects of physical and relational victimization and shows that victimized youth continue to experience poorer physical health for years after high school," the researchers concluded in the study.
In order to arrive at this conclusion, the researchers followed 662 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old. The participants were part of the Victoria Healthy Youth Survey which conducted six interviews between 2003 and 2014.
According to the report by Reuters, in order to measure bullying, the researchers asked the participants questions such as how often they got pushed or shoved and how often do their peers spread lies about them.
Moreover, to evaluate physical symptoms, the participants were asked about how often they experience problems such as headaches, dizziness and insomnia. The participants were also asked to rate the frequency of how they felt good and proud or uncomfortable about their body.
Over the duration of the decade-long study, the researchers found that 29 to 52 percent of the boys and 20 to 29 of the girls experience physical bullying sometimes. Meanwhile, 28 to 67 percent of the boys and 37 to 54 percent of girls sometimes suffer from "emotional taunts."
Roughly one to two percent of the participants were bullied all the time.
The study also showed that the females reported more physical symptoms and poorer body image as compared to the males in the study.
Moreover, physical symptoms were found to be linked to "emotional taunts" although the association between physical bullying and the health complaints were found to be less consistent over the course of the study. The researchers believed that this is the case since there were few instances of physical bullying.
Although the study was limited with the fact that majority of the participants are white which limited the findings to those of a different race or ethnicity, the researchers firmly believed that the findings of the study are important in preventing bullying and providing treatment for the victims.