People who are bullied as children may experience its negative effects later on in life, a recent study found.
The team, led by Laura Bogart, a social psychologist at Boston Children's Hospital, used surveys collected from 4,300 public school students in Houston, Los Angeles and Birmingham.
They found that approximately 22 percent of students reported being bullied in fifth grade. Just like with previous research, the likelihood of being bullied lessened as students got older. Still, 5 percent reported being victimized in seventh grade and 3 percent reported being victimized in tenth grade.
Bogart, who is also a Harvard Medical School associate professor in pediatrics, said: "One of the most direct implications from the study is that this is a really strong argument for immediate and early intervention because this can really have severe consequences for health."
Dr. Benjamin Shain, who was not directly involved in the research, suggest that parents should encourage their child to converse with them and to look for changes in behavior in order to identify bullying. Some changes may include grades suddenly going down or the child not wanting to go to school or not wanting to spend time with friends.
The study which will be published in the journal Pediatrics next month.
