Bullying has been in the news a lot this week because of new studies that show its long-term effects are significant for both mental and physical health. We shared one report yesterday, and today we’re sharing the below excerpt from a piece by North Carolina’s WRAL on Duke University’s recently published study on the lasting effects of bullying. We hope you’ll read it and click the link provided for the full story, and if you’re in the greater Cleveland area and recognize yourself or someone you love in this piece, we hope you’ll reach out.
Dr. William Copeland, an associate professor at Duke, is a nationally known bullying expert, who authored a major study on the topic.
In his research, Copeland followed 1,270 North Carolina students – starting around the ages 9, 10 and 11, and kept in contact with the students over a 20-year period, into adulthood. Participants fell into one of three groups: bullies, victims or a combination Copeland called victim-bullies.
“They say, ‘Well, I have been mistreated in this situation so I am going to kind of go out there and see if I can kind of rebalance the scales,'” Copeland said when describing victim-bullies.
The results showed that victim-bullies suffered the worst lasting effects on their health.
“Higher rates of anxiety, depression, even suicidality into adulthood,” he said. “We even see effects upon their physical health.”