Childhood Peer Victimization and Adolescent Mental Health

Investigators from multiple institutions conducted a study to assess the association between childhood peer victimization and adolescent mental illness. Peer victimization (including bullying) is harm caused by peers acting inappropriately. For the study, the investigators analyzed data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development in which 2,120 children born in 1997–1998 in Quebec Canada were enrolled. Childhood peer victimization was assessed using self-report when study participants were 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 13 years old. Data on potential confounders, such as family hardship, childhood mental health, and victimization perpetration, were also collected at these time-points using a variety of instruments. Mental health issues, including depression and dysthymia problems, generalized anxiety problems, social anxiety problems, …