A Comprehensive Review: Bullying's Impact on Youth Mental Health

This literature review examines the pervasive and detrimental effects of bullying on the mental health of young people. It synthesizes findings from four key academic articles: Li & Shi (2018) which investigates the relationship between bullying and suicide in high school students, Bjereld et al. (2015) which explores mental health problems and social resource factors among bullied children in Nordic countries, Bayer et al. (2018) which studies bullying, mental health, and friendship in Australian primary school children, and Baldry (2004) which analyzes the impact of direct and indirect bullying on the mental and physical health of Italian youngsters. The review provides a detailed summary of each article, highlighting methodologies, findings, and limitations. Critiques focus on methodological rigor, sample sizes, and the establishment of causal relationships. The review also examines the relevance of the findings to the broader topic of youth mental health, emphasizing the psychological impact of bullying, including increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. The studies collectively underscore the need for comprehensive interventions to prevent and address bullying, and to support the mental well-being of young people.

Running head: EFFECT OF BULLYING ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUTH
Effect Of Bullying On The Mental Health Of Youth
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

EFFECT OF BULLYING ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUTH 2
Introduction
Bullying is a serious issue worldwide, especially for young children and youth, as it poses
serious mental health issues for them, such as depression or anxiety. In some cases, it can
also stimulate suicidal tendency within an adolescent. It affects the well-being of the offender
who bullies another person, the target who is bullied as also the bystander who is the witness
of the bullying act. Bullying can be verbal, physical, emotional or social such as
cyberbullying. Also, bullying can be of two types: Direct and Indirect bullying. Direct
bullying is where two people are involved when one of them insults or humiliates the other.
In contrast, indirect bullying means destroying the social reputation of an individual usually
through spreading of rumours (Baldry, 2004).
Body
Bullying is a serious problem in schools. The school children face bullying like teasing,
hitting, threatening from their friends or seniors; all these actions assault the dignity of a
child. On the other hand, bullying can also arise due to stress from the family members or the
teacher for poor academic performance, leading to embarrassment and humiliation of the
child. Once a child is bullied he feels reluctant to participate in the classroom activities or
sports, they also hesitate to go to school as there is always a fear in their mind that they will
be bullied again(Bjereld et al, 2015). Bullying negatively impacts their studies and academic
performance as well as their lifestyle, depriving them of sleep. It also hampers the personality
development of the child. The adolescent groups or teenagers are also exposed to bullying,
which has a detrimental effect on their mental health and leads to psychosocial troubles. The
research found that the bullied teen develops an antisocial personality disorder and has a
higher risk of falling into depression or anxiety disorder than the teens who are not ever

EFFECT OF BULLYING ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUTH 3
bullied and faces mental problems when they grow up(Bayer et al, 2018). Studies also
suggest that some teens who are being bullied grow up to be aggressive, violent and have
more significant psychological damage. The long term effects of bullying show a higher risk
of depression and issues with low self-esteem later in life. The teenagers who are bullied are
more likely to have problems with drugs, alcohol and promiscuity.
Moreover, bullying leads to poor self-esteem and confidence within the child; they do not
like socialize much and prefer loneliness. Children and the adolescent people who are bullied
have an increased risk of substance use, difficulty in learning, and becomes violent to others.
Sometimes their depression becomes so severe that they become entirely hopeless, lose their
connectedness from the world and even think of ending their life. Bullying is found to be
associated with increases in suicide risk in the adolescent people who are victims of bullying
since it increases their depression level and other problems related to suicide. That is why the
suicide rates are found to be maximum among the depressed and lonely people(Li & Shi,
2018).
In the article “Bullying and suicide in high school students: Findings from the 2015
California youth risk behavior survey” by Li & Shi (2018), the authors have made the article
appear very engaging and intuitive to the readers and also contain relevant materials from
different types of studies. The authors have presented the article in a compact, well-structured
and organized way. Moreover the language of the article is also simple and easy to
understand. The weakness of the article being lack of appropriateness. The author failed to
establish a causal relationship between bullying, depression and suicide; and also there were
not sufficient data about the racial groups of people.

EFFECT OF BULLYING ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUTH 4
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that the children and the adolescent groups are more prone to
bullying, which results in their poor mental health, causing depression and anxiety and other
personality disorder. A child who is bullied at a very young age at school, it gives rise to
mental trauma or a shock which stays with him for the rest of the life. Furthermore, bullying
provokes aggression and depression within an individual and also push the individual towards
committing suicide. So, in other words, it can be said, bullying acts as a catalyst for suicide.

EFFECT OF BULLYING ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUTH 5
REFERENCE
Baldry, A. C. (2004). The impact of direct and indirect bullying on the mental and physical
health of Italian youngsters. Aggressive Behavior: Official Journal of the
International Society for Research on Aggression, 30(5), 343-355.
Bayer, J. K., Mundy, L., Stokes, I., Hearps, S., Allen, N., & Patton, G. (2018). Bullying,
mental health and friendship in Australian primary school children. Child and
adolescent mental health, 23(4), 334-340.
Bjereld, Y., Daneback, K., Gunnarsdóttir, H., & Petzold, M. (2015). Mental health problems
and social resource factors among bullied children in the Nordic countries: a
population based cross-sectional study. Child Psychiatry & Human
Development, 46(2), 281-288.
Li, Y., & Shi, J. (2018). Bullying and suicide in high school students: Findings from the 2015
California youth risk behavior survey. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social
Environment, 28(6), 695-709.