Do the victims of school bullies tend to become depressed later in life? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of longitudinal studies
| Date | 16 May 2011 |
| Published date | 16 May 2011 |
| Pages | 63-73 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17596591111132873 |
| Author | Maria M. Ttofi,David P. Farrington,Friedrich Lösel,Rolf Loeber |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
Do the victims of school bullies tend
to become depressed later in life?
A systematic review and meta-analysis
of longitudinal studies
Maria M. Ttofi, David P. Farrington, Friedrich Lo
¨sel and Rolf Loeber
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which bullying victimization in school
predicts depression in later life and whether this relation holds after controllingfor other major childhood
risk factors.
Design/methodology/approach – As no previous systematic review has been conducted on this topic,
effect sizes are based on both published and unpublished studies: longitudinal investigators of 28
studies have conducted specific analyses for the authors’ review.
Findings – The probability of being depressed up to 36 years later (mean follow-up period of 6.9 years)
was much higher for children who were bullied at school than for non-involved students (odds ratio
(OR) ¼1.99; 95 per cent CI: 1.71-2.32). Bullying victimization was a significant risk factor for later
depression even after controlling for up to 20 (mean number of six covariates) major childhood risk
factors (OR ¼1.74; 95 per cent CI: 1.54-1.97). Effect sizes were smaller when the follow-up period was
longer and larger the younger the child was when exposed to bullying. Finally, the summary effect size
was not significantly related to the number of risk factors controlled for.
Originality/value – Although causal inferences are tentative, the overall results presented in this paper
indicate that bullying victimization is a major childhood risk factor that uniquely contributes to later
depression. High quality effective anti-bullying programmes could be viewed as an early form of public
health promotion.
Keywords Bullying, Schools, Adults, Depression
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Scientific interest in the problem of childhood bullying and its negative short- and long-term
effects emerged after the well-publicized suicides of three Norwegian boys in 1982, which
were attributed to severe peer bullying (Olweus, 1993). Later research has shown that the
prognosis of children who bully and are bullied is not encouraging. When these types of
childhood behaviour are not dealt with, they may spiral out of control in adolescence and
adulthood, affecting not only the persons themselves but also their future social relations
(Ttofi and Farrington, 2008, 2010). An effort to stamp out bullying in childhood can allow
individuals at risk to lead normal well-adjusted lives rather than exhibit behavioural and
emotional problems in later life.
Children who bully generally do not grow up to be well-adjusted individuals contributing
positively to society, as shown in a recent systematic review on the association of school
bullying perpetration with later criminal offending based on longitudinal studies (Ttofi et al.,
2011). For children who are the targets of bullying, outcomes also seem to be undesirable
according to a recent narrative review (Arseneault et al., 2010). However, the authors rightly
DOI 10.1108/17 596591111132873 VOL. 3 NO. 2 2011, pp. 63-73 , QEmeraldGroup PublishingLimited, ISSN 1759-6599
j
JOURNALOF AGGRESSION, CONFLICTAND PEACE RESEARCH
j
PAGE 63
Maria M. Ttofi, David P.
Farrington and Friedrich
Lo
¨sel are based at the
Institute of Criminology,
Cambridge University,
Cambridge, UK.
Rolf Loeber is based at the
Western Psychiatric
Institute and Clinic,
University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA.
This study was supported by
the British Academy and the
Swedish National Council for
Crime Prevention. The authors
would like to thank all 28
longitudinal researchers who
have conducted special
analyses for the aims of the
review and are most
appreciative of the academic
support of Jan Andersson and
of the methodological feedback
provided by David B. Wilson. Mr
Nikos Theodorakis has worked
as a research assistant on the
project.
To continue reading
Request your trial