Bullying victims scarred for life

Children who were bullied and those who were bullies themselves are both at higher risk for depression, anxiety and panic disorder years later, according to a US study. Researchers had known that bullying can take a psychological toll on both bullies and victims, but it had been unclear just how long those effects would last. But the latest study, published in Jama Psychiatry, found that depression and anxiety tied to bullying at school persisted at least through people’s mid-20s. The worst off were those who had been both bullies and the targets of bullying. “It’s obviously very well established how problematic bullying is short-term,” said William Copeland, a clinical psychologist who led the new study at Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina. “I was surprised that a decade down the road after they’ve been victimised, when they’ve kind of transitioned to adulthood, we would still see these emotional marks for the victims and also the bullies/victims.” His team’s research included 1,420 youth from western North Carolina who were asked about their experiences with bullying at various points between age nine and 16, then were followed and assessed for...