Bullied Kids May Increase Their Risk of Inflicting Self-Harm: Study

A new study suggest that kids who experienced being bullied have a threefold higher chances than their peers of injuring themselves by the time they are 12 years of age.

According to a group of researchers from the United States and the United kingdom, the findings of their study would be able to help in identifying children with the highest risk of having this type of behavior. The study was published in the April 27 issue of the journal BMJ.

The researchers said the examples of self-injuring behaviors investigated in the study included cutting and biting arms, pulling out clumps of hair, banging of the head and strangulation as an attempt of killing oneself.

For the study, the research team looked at sets of twins who were born between 1994 and 1995 in England and Wales. The participants’ risk for inflicting self-injury was evaluated six months prior to their 12th birthday. This information was obtained for 2,141 children who participated in the study.

The researchers found that 237 of the kids in the study had experienced being bullied. Eight percent of these children engaged in self-injuring behaviors. Out of the 1,904 kids who were not victimized by bullies on the other hand, only 2 percent had injured themselves.

Among the kids exposed to bullying, the researchers identified a number of factors that increased their risk of inflicting self-injury even more. These factors include:

• A family history of self-injuring behavior

• Subjected to abusive treatment

• Behavioral and emotional problems

In a news release issued by the journal, the researchers also noted that compared to boys, girls had the higher chances of engaging in self-harming behaviors.

In their conclusion, lead study author Helen Fisher, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, and her team, said that schools as well as health care professionals should get involved and safeguard bullied kids. This can be done by exerting efforts of reducing bullying and implementing programs designed to reduce risk for self-injury. The systems should be in position to help kids deal with the emotional pain caused by bullying, the researchers added.

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