School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK.
Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 3PQ, UK.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2022 May;31(5):737-746. doi: 10.1007/s00787-020-01708-z. Epub 2021 Jan 11.
Victimization by peers and siblings is associated with poorer mental health outcomes in adolescence. What is less clear is whether mental health outcomes improve if victimization experiences cease (e.g., being victimized in primary school but not secondary school). This study aims to explore how changes in victimization experiences are associated with changes in mental health outcomes in early adolescence. Data are from 13,912 participants in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a nationally representative cohort of individuals born in the UK. Self-reported victimization by peers and siblings, as well as mental health outcomes (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and body image), were collected at age 11 and age 14. Victimization at either time point was associated with poorer mental health across the range of outcomes, with effects largest for those who were consistently victimized. Those who reported increasing victimization had greater deterioration in their mental health compared with their peers who were never victimized. Conversely, children whose victimization decreased showed similar mental health development over this period as those who were never victimized. There was a cumulative effect of victimization by peers and siblings, with effect sizes generally larger for experiences with peers. Victimization in adolescence is associated with enduring reductions in mental health. Nonetheless, the promising outcomes associated with reductions in victimization suggest the potential for bullying interventions in schools to limit the deterioration in mental health in victimized groups.
同伴和兄弟姐妹的侵害与青少年心理健康状况较差有关。不太清楚的是，如果侵害经历停止（例如，在小学受到侵害，但在中学没有），心理健康状况是否会改善。本研究旨在探讨侵害经历的变化如何与青少年早期心理健康状况的变化相关。数据来自英国全国代表性队列研究中的 13912 名参与者千禧年队列研究（MCS）。在 11 岁和 14 岁时，收集了同伴和兄弟姐妹的自我报告侵害以及心理健康结果（抑郁症状、生活满意度、自尊和身体形象）。在各个结果中，任何一个时间点的侵害都与心理健康较差有关，对于那些一直受到侵害的人影响最大。与从未受到侵害的同龄人相比，报告侵害增加的人心理健康恶化程度更大。相反，那些侵害减少的孩子在这段时间内的心理健康发展与从未受到侵害的孩子相似。同伴和兄弟姐妹的侵害存在累积效应，同伴经历的影响大小通常更大。青少年时期的侵害与心理健康的持续下降有关。尽管如此，与侵害减少相关的有希望的结果表明，学校中的欺凌干预措施有可能限制受侵害群体心理健康的恶化。
