In a study, it was found that bullying by siblings can make people feel bad affects mental health and their bodies. A new study says that kids who are bullied by their siblings a lot are more likely to affects mental health problems later in life.
A journal called “Journal of Youth and Adolescence” published the findings of the study
People who took part in the new study, which looked at data from more than 17,000 people, found that as the frequency of bullying rose in early to middle adolescence, so did the severity of their mental health problems in their late teens.
Also, the paper found that sibling bullying in early adolescence, no matter if the person was a victim or perpetrator, has a long-term effect on both positive and negative mental health in late adolescence, even if the person was both.
Study after study has shown that adolescents are at a high and that affects mental health to get worse, and bad sibling relationships can be a big part of that.
When the lead author, Dr. Umar Toseeb from the University of York’s Department of Education, said that sibling bullying has been linked to poor mental health outcomes, he didn’t know whether there is a link between the severity of mental health outcomes and how long sibling bullying lasts.
“In the first study of its kind, we looked at a wide range of mental health outcomes,” said Dr. Toseeb. “We looked at both positive (eg, well-being and self-esteem) and negative (eg, symptoms of psychological distress) mental health.”
People who bullied their siblings but were not bullied themselves (ie, the bullies) had poorer mental health years later, said Dr. Toseeb, who led the study.
Finally, the paper said that reducing sibling bullying in early adolescence could help prevent and treat mental health problems and promote positive mental health in late adolescence, which could help.
The UK-based Millennium Cohort Study was used in the study. The study was set up in the early 2000s to look into how children lived in the new century.
There were questionnaires for young people to answer about bullying between siblings when they were aged 11 and 14. There were also questionnaires about their mental health and well-being when they were 17. Their parents filled out questionnaires when they were 11, 14, and 17 years old.
