Bullying and victimisation are common in four-year-old children and are associated with somatic symptoms and conduct and peer problems

AIM

There are few population-based studies on bullying behaviour among preschool children. The aims of the study were to investigate the prevalence of bullying behaviour among four-year-old children, as reported by their parents, the prevalence of types of bullying behaviour and the associations between bullying behaviour and psychosocial factors.

METHODS

This study was based on a population-based study sample of 931 children who attended their check-up at a child health clinic at four years of age. Parents completed the questionnaire about their child's bullying behaviour and risk factors during the check-up.

RESULTS

Bullying behaviour, especially being both a bully and a victim, was a common phenomenon among four-year-old children. Being a bully or both a bully and victim were most strongly associated with conduct problems, while being a victim was associated with somatic symptoms and peer problems.

CONCLUSION

Bullying behaviour was frequently found in preschool children and associated with a wide range of other problems, which indicate that routine checking of bullying behaviour should be included in child health clinic check-ups. Bullying prevention programmes are usually targeted at school-aged children, but this study highlights the importance of focusing already on preschool children.

Association of Bullying Behavior at 8 Years of Age and Use of Specialized Services for Psychiatric Disorders by 29 Years of Age

IMPORTANCE

Bullying and being exposed to bullying among children is prevalent, especially among children with psychiatric symptoms, and constitutes a major concern worldwide. Whether childhood bullying or exposure to bullying in the absence of childhood psychiatric symptoms is associated with psychiatric outcomes in adulthood remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To study the associations between bullying behavior at 8 years of age and adult psychiatric outcomes by 29 years of age.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

Nationwide birth cohort study of 5034 Finnish children with complete information about childhood bullying behavior was followed up from 8 to 29 years of age. Follow-up was completed on December 31, 2009, and data were analyzed from January 15, 2013, to February 15, 2015.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Information about bullying, exposure to bullying, and psychiatric symptoms were obtained from parents, teachers, and child self-reports when children were 8 years of age. Use of specialized services for psychiatric disorders from 16 to 29 years of age was obtained from a nationwide hospital register, including outpatient and inpatient treatment.

RESULTS

Among the 5034 study participants, 4540 (90.2%) did not engage in bullying behavior; of these, 520 (11.5%) had received a psychiatric diagnosis at follow-up; 33 of 166 (19.9%) who engaged in frequent bullying, 58 of 251 (23.1%) frequently exposed to bullying, and 24 of 77 (31.2%) who both frequently engaged in and were frequently exposed to bullying had received psychiatric diagnoses at follow-up. When analyses were adjusted by sex, family factors, and child psychiatric symptoms at 8 years of age, we found independent associations of treatment of any psychiatric disorder with frequent exposure to bullying (hazard ratio [HR], 1.9; 95% CI, 1.4-2.5) and being a bully and exposed to bullying (HR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.3-3.4). Exposure to bullying was specifically associated with depression (HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.2-2.9). Bullying was associated with psychiatric outcomes only in the presence of psychiatric problems at 8 years of age. Participants who were bullies and exposed to bullying at 8 years of age had a high risk for several psychiatric disorders requiring treatment in adulthood. However, the associations with specific psychiatric disorders did not remain significant after controlling for concurrent psychiatric symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Exposure to bullying, even in the absence of childhood psychiatric symptoms, is associated with severe adulthood psychiatric outcomes that require treatment in specialized services. Early intervention among those involved in bullying can prevent long-term consequences.

Bullying and victimization among 8-year-old children: a 16-year population-based time-trend study

BACKGROUND

Bullying has been recognized as a major social and health problem among children. There are only few studies about changes in the prevalence of bullying behaviour, especially among younger children.

AIMS

To examine changes in the prevalence of bullying behaviour at three time-points, 1989, 1999 and 2005, among 8-year-old children living in south-western Finland.

METHODS

Three representative cross-sectional samples of 8-year-old children from south-western Finland were compared. All children born in 1981 (n = 1038), 1991 (n = 1035) and 1997 (n = 1030) and living in selected school districts were included in the study samples. The sampling, procedure and methods were similar at all three time-points. The participation rate varied from 84% to 96%. Children, parents and teachers filled in questionnaires asking about bullying and victimization.

RESULTS

In 2005, statistically significantly fewer boys were victimized than in 1989. Among girls, there was a decreasing trend of victimization but this was statistically significant only in parental reports. More girls were frequent victims in 2005 than in 1989. Among boys, the number of bullies also decreased. However, teachers found more bullies among girls in 2005 than in 1989.

CONCLUSION

There was a slight decrease in bullying behaviour among boys from 1989 to 2005. The main finding among girls was an almost twofold increase in teacher-reported bullies (from 5% to 9%). Bullying and its prevention are major challenges for educational and school health services. Peer relationships and a non-violent school environment are major challenges of children's lives; therefore, continuous monitoring of bullying behaviour is important.