Physical and mental health issues related to bullying in schools

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

Volumn 13, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 375-380

  Salmon, Gill ^a,b   West, Anne ^a  

^a Trehafod Child and Family Clinic   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF GLAMORGAN   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; AGGRESSION; CHILD; CHILD ABUSE; GROUP PSYCHOLOGY; HEALTH; HIGH RISK POPULATION; HUMAN; MALADJUSTMENT; MENTAL HEALTH; MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE; PATIENT REFERRAL; PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY; REVIEW; SCHOOL; SOCIAL STATUS; UNITED KINGDOM; VICTIM;

EID: 0033930841     PISSN: 09517367     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/00001504-200007000-00003     Document Type: Review

References (49)

1. 1 Smith PK, Morita Y, Junger-Tas J, et al. (editors). The nature of school bullying: a cross national perspective. New York and London: Routledge; 1999.
2. 2 Olweus D. Bullying in schools: what we know and what we can do. Oxford: Blackwell; 1993.
3. 3 Whitney I, Smith PK. A survey of the nature and extent of bullying in junior/middle and secondary schools. Educ Res 1993; 35:3-25.
4. 4 Baldry A, Farrington DP. Types of bullying among Italian school children. J Adolescence 1999; 22:423-426. This is essentially a repetition of previous prevalence studies of school bullying in other European countries, with some new findings that add to the international literature on the subject.
5. 5 Smith PK, Shu S. What good schools can do about bullying: findings from a survey in English schools after a decade of research and action. Childhood 2000; 7:193-212. This study revisits the prevalence of bullying in English schools 10 years after the original Sheffield prevalence and intervention studies, and presents new data that may be very relevant to schools that are tackling bullying issues.
6. 6 Department for Education and Employment. Section 61(4)(B), School Standards and Framework Act. London: HMSO; 1998.
7. 7 Crozier WR, Dimmock PD. Name-calling and nicknames in a sample of primary school children. Br J Educ Psychol 1999; 69:505-516.
8. 8 Olweus D. Aggression in the schools: bullies and whipping boys. Washington, DC: Hemisphere Press (John Wiley); 1978.
9. 9 Kumpulainen K, Rasanen E, Henttonem I. Children involved in bullying: psychological disturbance and the persistence of the involvement. Child Abuse Neglect 1999; 23:1253-1262. This is an ambitious follow-up investigation examining the extent of bullying among children, and the relationship between bullying and psychological disturbance at two time points (four years apart).
10. 10 Smith PK, Myron-Wilson R. Parenting and school bullying. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 1998; 3:405-417.
11. 11 Leff S. Bullied children are picked on for their vulnerability [letter]. Br Med J 1999; 318:1076.
12. 12 Moran S, Smith PK, Thompson D, Whitney I. Ethnic differences in experiences of bullying: Asian and white children. Br J Educ Psychol 1993; 63:431-440.
13. 13 Hugh-Jones S, Smith PK. Self-reports of short- and long-term effects of bullying on children who stammer. Br J Educ Psychol 1999; 69:141-158.
14. 14 Voss LD, Mulligan J. Bullying in school: are short pupils at risk? Questionnaire study in a cohort. Br Med J 2000; 320:612-613. This cohort study adds weight to the hypothesis that short pupils are more likely to be victims and less likely to be aggressors in secondary schools, and, contrary to previous studies, suggests that short pupils feel socially isolated.
15. 15 O'Moore AM, Hillery B. Bullying in Dublin schools. Irish J Psychol 1989; 10:426-441.
16. 16 Olweus D. Annotation: bullying at school: basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1994; 7:1171-1190.
17. 17 Williams K, Chambers M, Logan S, Robinson D. Association of common health symptoms with bullying in primary school children. Br Med J 1996; 313:17-19.
18. 18 Wolke D. Physical and relational bullying in young children: distinguishing features. ESRC End of Award Report Summary. UK: Economic and Social Research Council; 1999.
19. 19 Rigby K. The relationship between reported health and involvement in bully/victim problems among male and female secondary schoolchildren. J Health Psychol 1998; 3:465-447.
20. 20 Ferero R, McLellan L, Rissel C, Bauman A. Bullying behaviour and psychosocial health among school students in New South Wales, Australia: cross-sectional survey. Br Med J 1999; 319:344-348. This cross-sectional survey of Australian secondary school children claims to differ from previous surveys by differentiating bullies, bully/victims, victims and those not involved in bully/victim problems.
21. 21 Rigby K. Peer victimization at school and the health of secondary school students. Br J Educ Psychol 1999; 69:95-104. This longitudinal study of Australian secondary school students adds further weight to the hypothesis that bullying can have lasting adverse effects on both physical and mental health.
22. 22 Kochenderfer BJ, Ladd GW. Peer victimization: cause or consequence of school maladjustment? Child Dev 1996; 67:1305-1317.
23. 23 Salmon G, James A, Smith DM. Bullying in schools: self reported anxiety, depression and self esteem in secondary school children. Br Med J 1998; 317:924-925.
24. 24 Rigby K, Slee PT. Dimensions of interpersonal relation among Australian children and implications for psychological well-being. J Soc Psychol 1993; 133:33-42.
25. 25 Slee PT. Peer victimization and its relationship to depression among Australian primary school students. Person Individual Diff 1995; 18:57-62.
26. 26 Kaltiala-Heino R, Rimpela M, Marttunen M, et al. Bullying, depression, and suicidal ideation in Finnish adolescents: school survey. Br Med J 1999; 319:348-351. This a very large school-based survey of health, health behaviour and behaviour in Finnish schools using a Finnish translation of the Beck Depression Inventory to screen for depression and suicidal ideation.
27. 27 Rigby K, Slee P. Suicidal ideation among adolescent school children, involvement in bully-victim problems and perceived social support. Suicide Life-Threatening Behav 1999; 29:119-130. This study highlights the positive effects of social support in schools in reducing suicidal ideation among adolescent persons who are involved in bully/victim problems.
28. 28 Davies M, Cunningham G. Adolescent parasuicide in the Foyle area. Irish J Psychol Med 1998; 16:5-9.
29. 29 Hawker D, Boulton MJ. Twenty years research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: a meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. J Assoc Child Psychol Psychiatr 2000; 41:441-455. This impressive paper collates and evaluates the results of previous cross-sectional studies of peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment published between 1978 and 1997 in a meta-analysis.
30. 30 Dawkins J. Bullying in schools: doctors' responsibilities. Br Med J 1995; 310:274-275.
31. 31 Kumputainen K, Rasanen E, Henttonem I, et al. Bullying and psychiatric symptoms among elementary school-age children. Child Abuse Neglect 1998; 22:705-717.
32. 32 Quinn P. Bullying in Schools: detection in an adolescent clinic practice compared with questionnaire survey. Child Psychol Psychiatry Rev 1996; 1:139-145.
33. 33 Salmon G, James A, Cassidy EC, Javaloyes A. Bullying a review: presentations to an adolescent psychiatric service and within a school for emotionally and behaviourally disturbed children. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry (in press). This paper is interesting in that it both reviews the literature on school bullying as well as offering clinical data and case examples relating to presentations of bullied children and bullies in a psychiatric setting.
34. 34 Slee PT, Rigby K. Australian school children's self appraisal of interpersonal relations: the bullying experience. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 1993; 23:273-281.
35. 35 Schneider BH. A muttimethod exploration of the friendships of children considered socially withdrawn by their school peers. J Abnorm Child Psychol 1999; 27:115-123. This is a methodologically rigorous study. It points out that rejected children are not a homogenous group, and that other factors come into play to create a bully or victim.
36. 36 Boivin M, Hymel S, Bukowski WM. The roles of social withdrawal, peer rejection, and victimization by peers in predicting loneliness and depressed mood in children. Dev Psychopathol 1995; 7:765-786.
37. 37 Hodges EVE, Perry DG. Personal and interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers. J Person Soc Psychol 1999; 7:677-685. This paper provides much needed longitudinal data to shed light on the antecedents and consequences of victimization.
38. 38 Schwartz D, McFadyen-Ketchum S, Dodge KA, et al. Early behaviour problems as a predictor of later peer group victimization: moderators and mediators in the pathways of social risk. J Abnorm Child Psychol 1999; 27:191-201. Detailed video-taped analyses of laboratory-based interactions. This study has high internal validity, but one might question its applicability to practical interventions.
39. 39 Woodward LJ, Fergusson DM. Childhood peer relationship problems and psychosocial adjustment in late adolescence. J Abnorm Child Psychol 1999; 27:87-104. This paper's strength is that it is a powerful prospective study using nearly 1000 children.
40. 40 Hawker DSJ, Boulton MJ. Subtypes of peer harassment and their correlates: a social dominance perspective. In Peer harassment in school. Juronen J, Graham S (editors). New York: Guilford (in press). This represents an important new application of social rank theory. It is especially appealing because it provides an over-arching theoretical structure, of which bullying is one part.
41. 41 Dodge K, Pettit G, McClaskey C, Brown M. Social competence in children. Monographs Soc Res Child Dev 1986; 51.
42. 42 Sutton J, Smith PK, Swettenham J. Bullying and 'theory of mind': a critique of the 'social skills deficit model' of anti-social behaviour. Soc Dev 1999; 8:117-134. This is an interesting theoretical exploration of the role of theory of mind skills and social cognition in bullying behaviour and its implications for antibullying interventions and research.
43. 43 Eslea M, Smith PK. The long-term effectiveness of anti-bullying work in primary schools. Educ Res 1998; 40:203-218.
44. 44 Sutton J, Smith PK, Swettenham J. Social cognition and bullying: social inadequacy or skilled manipulation? Br J Dev Psychol 1999; 17:435-450. This is an extension of an earlier paper by the same authors [42••] in which they test out their hypothesis of use of social cognition skills in bullying, using story techniques in a sample of primary school-aged children.
45. 45 Smith PK, Sharp S (editors). School bullying: insights and perspectives. London: Routledge; 1994.
46. 46 O'Connell P, Pepler D, Craig W. Peer involvement in bullying: insights and challenges for intervention. J Adolescence 1999; 22:437-452.
47. 47 Peterson L, Rigby K. Countering bullying at an Australian secondary school with students as helpers. J Adolescence 1999; 22:481-492. This is a clear and comprehensive study by very experienced researchers in this field. It provides a useful longitudinal view of the problem.
48. 48 Naylor P, Cowie H. The effectiveness of peer support systems in challenging school bullying: the perspectives and experiences of teachers and pupils. J Adolescence 1999; 22:467-479.
49. 49 Salmivalli C. Participant role approach to school bullying: implications for interventions. J Adolescence 1999; 22:453-459. This paper provides a useful theoretical model to think about change. An empirical example would however make the argument stronger.