It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or whatever kind of doctor this researcher is, to know that bully harms kid's mental health

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23035686

NEW YORK - A new study provides strong evidence that being bullied can cause children to develop depression and anxiety.

Among identical twin pairs in which one experienced bullying between the ages of 7 and 9 and the other did not, the bullied twin was significantly more likely to have symptoms of internalizing problems at age 10, Dr. Louise Arsenault of King’s College, London, and her colleagues found.

Internalizing problems are psychological problems in which negativity is directed inward toward the self, such as depression, as opposed to outwardly, such as conduct disorder.

This research “really supports the assumption or the belief that being bullied is bad for children’s health,” Arsenault told Reuters Health. And the fact that children were having these symptoms, which include frequent crying, fear of being alone, and stomach aches — at such a young age strongly suggests that they need help, she added.

Bullied children are known to be more likely to have anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide, as well as to experience social isolation, Arsenault and her team note in their report.

But the question of whether bullying itself is the cause of these mental health problems remains open. It’s possible, the researchers explain, that bullying and mental health problems stem from the same risk factors, such as living in a poor neighborhood or parental neglect, or even that a child with mental health problems is more likely to draw bullies’ attention.

To investigate, Arsenault and her team looked at 1,116 twin pairs from a nationally representative sample of twins born in England and Wales between ....

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23035686/

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