Effects of Childhood Bullying on Adult Personality - Report Example

Does Bullying During Childhood Affect the Persons Future Behavior as an Adult? Introduction Childhood bullying has been increasingly recognised as the most common and widespread form of violence in the school almost all over the world. It has been defined as a repetitive instrumental aggression resulting into a power imbalance between a perpetrator and a victim. It has been reported to be affecting 30% of the US students during their school life. It has been demonstrated that the bully victims are never the same, and bully as a phenomenon has permanent effects on both the bully and the victim. In the childhood, the victims of bully often suffer from anxiety, low self esteem, psychosomatic complaints, physical ailments, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation. The perpetrators of bullying also suffer from negative effects, and they have been demonstrated to be having an increased risk of mental health disorders. These may be attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and various conduct disorders. It has been stated that effects of bullying carries into the adulthood in some form of other. One such example is that the childhood bullies are often severely punitive with their children, and these children may subsequently show higher predilection for being more aggressive to peers (Sourander et al, 2007, 397-404). Literature Search Strategy There is considerable body of literature on this topic, and several facts have been known that can be used to design proper interventions into this social problem of considerable magnitude. Consequently, a literature review would be worthwhile, which could present the existing body of knowledge in this area, through which gaps in knowledge could be identified to direct further research. An exhaustive literature review was undertaken with the key words, “bullying”, “childhood bullying”, “school bullying”, “effects”, “future behavior”, “adulthood”, and “adult behaviors.” A combination of these key concepts was used to narrow down the search, so the articles published in the last 10 years on “effects on childhood bullying on adult behavior” could be located. Four such most recent articles were selected to conduct a careful literature review, the findings from which have been presented below. Literature Review Sourander et al. (2007) in their study explored the predictive association between bullying and victimization at the age of 8 and development of psychiatric disorders in early adulthood. In support of their hypothesis, the authors present findings from literature that this is a significantly prevalent problem in American schools. It has been already known that bullying and victimization are associated with poorer family functioning, interparental violence, and parental maltreatment. There is a difference between the bully and the victims in that bullies are aggressive, hostile, and domineering; they are hyperactive, and they demonstrate little anxiety and insecurity. On the contrary, the victims are depressed, withdrawn, anxious, and insecure. They score higher on the psychosomatic scales. They demonstrate lower self-esteem, and they tend to be more cautious, sensitive, and quieter. The authors present findings from other studies that the bully victims tend to be more troubled in terms of future outcomes. Once bullied, they demonstrate high levels of verbal and physical aggression. Their externalizing and hyperactive behaviour are higher, but at the same time their depressivity, self-worth, academic competence, and social acceptance are lower. This study attempts to fill the gap that exists in prospective bullying. The authors report a Finnish study, where observations suggest that being bullied at childhood has future consequences. Bullying at age strongly predict criminality at adolescence. Such a study would be necessary since information about long-term effects of bullying in the childhood into the future adult life will have public health implications, and knowledge about these may lead to preventive measures and interventions, and if school or childhood bullying is responsible for that, future research may be directed at school bullying where most of the childhood bullying happens. The researchers found that at a 15 year followup, 30% of the bully-victims will have a psychiatric disorder at followup, and the same number for the bully only group is 18%, frequent victim only group 17%, and the reference group 9%. Those in the bully-victim group would show high preponderance of antisocial personality, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. The bully only group would show antisocial personality, substance use, depressive and anxiety disorders, and those who were frequent victims would have anxiety disorders predictively. This study comprehensively demonstrates the potential candidates for future psychiatric disorders related to bullying, although in practice the psychiatrists get a continuum of patients, who may fail to be categorized into a specific diagnosis (Sourander et al., 2007, 397-404). Carlisle (2007) performed a pilot study on 15 adult males who were older than age 23. They were bullied at schools in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Out of them, 14 people recruited reported having been bullied at their schools on an average once in a week, and in the majority of them, it persisted for a period of 5 years. This was a qualitative study with quantitative evaluation of the survey data. All the participants attribute the school bullying and its lasting effects to their adult life high-level shame, anxieties, and relational difficulties. From this pilot studies, it is apparent that more wide-ranging, long-term effects may result from childhood bullying in the adult life of these victims. Further research is warranted (Carlisle, 2007, 16-26). Bond et al. (2001) investigates whether bullying cause emotional problems through a prospective study. To this end, the authors attempt to establish the relationship between recurrent peer victimization in the childhood and self-reported anxiety of depression symptoms in the victims when they approach adulthood through a prospective cohort study spanned over 2 years. Although given the prevalence of bullying in schools, it can be considered a normal developmental experience; it is an important cause of stress and physical and emotional problems. Bullying and associated victimization leads to psychosocial maladjustments. These may lead to depression, anxiety, and deterioration of general self esteem. Although studies have elucidated these facts, they fail to draw any inferences about causality. Longitudinal studies have demonstrated high level of victimization lead to poor physical health for boys and poor mental health for girls. Olweus found that early age victimization leads to depression in the adulthood. Through self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, the authors have reached a conclusion that a childhood history of bullying or victimization and poor social relationships predict the onset of emotional problems in adolescents. Focus intervention of mental health of adolescents are needed where effective treatments may be successful in preventing mental health problems in adulthood (Bond et al., 2001, 480-484). Sourander et al. (2007) investigated the correlation between childhood bullies and victims and their risks of criminality in late adolescence. The authors present the current knowledge in a succinct manner and attempt to orient the knowledge in a manner such that the correlation between bullying a phenomenon is associated with aggression and for both the bullies and the victims, there is support for broader range of social and emotional problems. The aggression in the bully victims is considered to be the representation of an underlying state of poorly modulated anger and irritability. Bullying is basically rule breaking behavior where violence is intimately associated, which may lead to subsequent antisocial and criminal behaviours as age advances. In a population-based study in Finland, the information about criminal offences from the police record was assimilated, and it was found that boys who frequently bully are at risk for later criminality when this is accompanied by high level of psychiatric symptoms. From that perspective, bullying as a phenomenon can be considered as a part of problems with prominent antisocial trajectory, where presence of psychiatric symptoms at early age may lead to criminality in the adult life (Sourander et al., 2007, 546-552). Conclusion Bullying is a psychosocial phenomenon. Both the bully and the victims have definitive psychosocial traits which have a predictable pattern. Studies are abundant that demonstrate that clustered in these psychological patterns, the phenomenon of bullying may leave lasting imprint both in the minds of the victims and the bully that may lead to many psychiatric problems in the future adult life, trailing from childhood bullying. As has been highlighted in this literature review, a preventive approach in childhood bullying may prevent future adult psychiatric problems in both the victims and the bully. However, it must be stated that due to deficiency in the designs of these studies, true causal relationship has not been established, which may dictate further studies in this area. Reference List Bond, L., Carlin, JB., Thomas, L., Rubin, K., and Patton, G., (2001). Does bullying cause emotional problems? A prospective study of young teenagers. BMJ;323;480-484 Carlisle, N., (2007). School Bullying: Do Adult Survivors Perceive Long-Term Effects? Traumatology, Vol. 13, No. 1, 16-26. Sourander, A., Jensen, P., Rönning, JA., Niemelä, S., Helenius, H., Sillanmäki, L., Kumpulainen, K., Piha, J., Tamminen, T., Moilanen, I., (2007). What Is the Early Adulthood Outcome of Boys Who Bully or Are Bullied in Childhood? The Finnish "From a Boy to a Man" Study. Pediatrics;120; 397-404 Sourander, A., Jensen, P., Ronning, JA., Elonheimo, H., Niemela, S., Helenius, H., Kumpulainen, K., Piha, J, Tamminen, T., Moilanen, I., Almqvist, F., (2007). Childhood Bullies and Victims and Their Risk of Criminality in Late Adolescence. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.;161:546-552 Read More