Bullying in Youth Bullying in Youth A Brief Overview A Brief - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Bullying in Youth Bullying in Youth A Brief Overview A Brief Overview Tom Tarshis M.D., M.P.H. Board-Certified Adult, Adolescent and Child Psychiatrist Adjunct Clinical Faculty, Stanford University AACAP Spokesperson on Bullying Director,
A Brief Overview A Brief Overview
Board-Certified Adult, Adolescent and Child Psychiatrist Adjunct Clinical Faculty, Stanford University AACAP Spokesperson on Bullying Director, Bay Area Children’s Association
Which Group of Children has the worst
In what percent of school shootings,
15%
25%
50%
70%
True or False: Laws are better designed
What is bullying? Historically : Overt aggression
(hitting, kicking, pushing) in males.
More recently, recognition of
manipulation and damage of peer relationships”.
Quick Definition: “The systematic abuse of power” Standard definition: (3 key criteria):`
1)
The bully exhibits behavior directed towards the victim that is designed to hurt, harm, or damage the victim physically, socially or emotionally. 2) The behavior only occurs when there is an imbalance of power between the bully and the victim (bully having more) 3) The bullying behavior happens repeatedly over time
Resiliency/ Threshold 1) Bullying effects can vary dramatically between youth 2) What seems to be “minor” to an adult or other peer may have severe mental health consequences to an individual 3) Resiliency – How fast youth “recover” from bullying event
United States Data
(Nansel et al, 2001) In 1998, Survey completed by 15,686 students in 6th through 10th grades
29.9% with moderate or frequent involvement in
bullying
Weekly involvement: Bullies: 8.8% Victims: 8.4%
Nansel, T. R. et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2004;158:730-736.
Involvement in bullying more than twice during the current school term in 25 countries
N= 264, Data collected from 1 public and 1
private school in CA, 1 public school in AZ, Grades 3-6,
“In the past week..”
Being Victimized
Depression Generalized Anxiety Social Anxiety Loneliness Low Self-esteem Suicidal Ideation
risk of self-harm
Being a Bully
Depression Suicidal Ideation ADHD Predictive of future
adult criminal activity
N=95 N=95 Bullies Bullies Victims Victims Bully Bully-
Victims Anxiety Anxiety (MASC) (MASC) R = 0.28 R = 0.28 R = 0.32 R = 0.32 R = 0.35 R = 0.35 Depression Depression (CDI) (CDI) R = 0.49 R = 0.49 R = 0.49 R = 0.49 R = 0.57 R = 0.57 Younger Kids (4 Younger Kids (4th
th-
6th
th graders)
graders) P < 0.01 for all associations P < 0.01 for all associations
More Clear
Ripped Clothes Bruises Hunger Lost Items Asking for $
Less Clear
Somatic Complaints
headache, stomachaches, body pains
Problems sleeping
Truancy Withdrawing Sudden loss of
friends
Questions for kids:
Observations:
Prevention is the best medicine!
bullying and victimization is a large group of friends
activities often valuable preventive measure
highly beneficial
All Interventions are through school. The interventions are characterized as:
Community Involvement Model
Perhaps okay for younger kids, poor results for older than 6th grade
Very costly but some benefit to individual kids
In general poor results, including sometimes causing an increase in bullying/victimization
Most promising, majority of studies with positive results
For Youth Piece of Interventions:
students (the 40 to 60% of kids not involved as bullies or victims) to get involved in calling
victims
Founded in 2007, non-profit, evidence-based
mental health clinic for children and families
Part of CATCH (Collaborative approach to
Children’s Mental Health) Services, seeking to revolutionize mental health care for children in the U.S.
Seek to provide excellent, integrated services to
all clients
Working on funding for evidence-based, anti-
bullying programs. Current focus on assessment
Bullying and Victimization are commonplace
among youth, beginning at young ages
Both physical and mental health symptoms are
highly correlated with being involved in bullying (either as the victim or perpetrator)
Research suggests that multidisciplinary
community based approaches may be the only effective programs to truly reduce bullying
Book for Teenagers: Living With Peer Pressure and Bullying Published April 2010