Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Centre for Psychiatry, Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2021 Nov;56(11):2041-2052. doi: 10.1007/s00127-021-02062-4. Epub 2021 Apr 15.
Bullying behaviours and other conduct problems often co-occur. However, we do not yet know whether bullying behaviours are associated with early factors and later poor outcomes independently of conduct problems. While there are differing, specific interventions for bullying behaviours and for conduct problems, it is unclear if such specificity is justified given parallels between both behaviours.
We used prospective data from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative sample of 2232 children. Mothers and teachers reported on children's bullying behaviours and conduct problems at ages 7 and 10. We collected measures of risk factors, including temperament and family factors, when children were age 5. We assessed behavioural, emotional, educational and social problems when participants reached the ages of 12 and 18.
Bullying behaviours and conduct problems co-occurred in childhood. Our findings indicated that bullying behaviours and other conduct problems were independently associated with the same risk factors. Furthermore, they were associated with the same poor outcomes at both ages 12 and 18. Despite this, bullying behaviours were uniquely associated with behavioural, emotional, educational and social problems at age 18.
Our findings suggest that anti-bullying programmes and interventions aimed at reducing conduct problems could benefit from greater integration. Furthermore, our study highlights the mental health problems children who bully may face in later years and the need to consider those in intervention plans.
欺凌行为和其他行为问题常常同时发生。然而，我们还不知道欺凌行为是否与早期因素以及之后的不良后果有关，而不考虑行为问题。虽然针对欺凌行为和行为问题有不同的、具体的干预措施，但鉴于这两种行为之间存在相似之处，尚不清楚这种针对性是否合理。
我们使用了来自环境风险（E-Risk）纵向双胞胎研究的前瞻性数据，该研究是一项全国代表性的 2232 名儿童的样本。母亲和教师在孩子 7 岁和 10 岁时报告了他们的欺凌行为和行为问题。当孩子 5 岁时，我们收集了风险因素的测量值，包括气质和家庭因素。当参与者达到 12 岁和 18 岁时，我们评估了他们的行为、情感、教育和社会问题。
欺凌行为和行为问题在儿童时期同时发生。我们的研究结果表明，欺凌行为和其他行为问题与相同的风险因素独立相关。此外，它们与 12 岁和 18 岁时的相同不良后果相关。尽管如此，欺凌行为与 18 岁时的行为、情感、教育和社会问题仍有独特的关联。
我们的研究结果表明，旨在减少行为问题的反欺凌计划和干预措施可以从更大的整合中受益。此外，我们的研究强调了欺凌儿童在以后几年可能面临的心理健康问题，以及在干预计划中需要考虑这些问题的必要性。
