While a burly kid on the playground may be the stereotype of a childhood bully, a new study suggests some of the most damaging bullies are as close to home as you can get: They're siblings who tease, make fun of and physically hurt their brothers and sisters.
Youngsters who were bullied by siblings were more than twice as likely to report depression or self-harm at age 18 as those who weren't bullied by siblings. They were also nearly twice as likely to report anxiety as they entered adulthood, according to new research.
Although the study only found an association and doesn't prove that these factors resulted directly from sibling bullying, "we believe it very likely that interventions to reduce sibling bullying would improve children's mental
health in the longer term," said study lead author Lucy Bowes, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Oxford.
Bullying has received tremendous attention in the United States in recent years. But there's been much less research into bullying among siblings.
In the new study, Bowes and colleagues examined the results of studies of just over 2,000 people in the United Kingdom who were surveyed via questionnaire in 2003 and 2004 at an average age of 12, and then answered a survey again at the age of 18.
For the rest of this article by Randy Dotinga, go to: http://consumer.healthday.com/...ted-ones-691464.html
Full article in Pediatrics: Sibling Bullying and Risk of Depression, Anxiety and Self Harm: A Prospective Cohort Study
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