Young victims of bullies can bounce back by the age of 16

THE mental effects of teenage bullying largely vanish after a few years, a study has shown, offering “a message of hope” to youngsters that they will get over childhood trauma.

Although previous research has linked bullying with long-term problems like anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and impulsivity, the findings from University College London found most of the effects wore off over time.

The research involved 11,108 participants from the Twins Early Development Study, run from King’s College London, and follows identical twins to tease out whether traits have been inherited or have developed because of social circumstances.

Although youngsters who were bullied by peers between the ages of 11 and 14 suffered poorer mental health up to two years after the abuse, all effects, except paranoid thoughts, were gone by age 16.

“While our findings show that being bullied leads to detrimental mental health outcomes, they also offer a message of hope by highlighting the potential for resilience,” said Dr Jean-baptiste Pingault, the study’s lead author.

“Bullying certainly causes suffering, but the impact on mental health decreases over time, so children are able to recover in the medium term.”

Dr Sophie Dix, director of research at MQ, a mental health research charity, said: “This unprecedented study gives the strongest evidence to date that bullying can directly cause many common mental health conditions – and have a serious effect on mental health. But the good news is that it shows that people can and do get better.”

The research was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.