While some parents think bullying is something their children will “grow out of,” a new study from Duke University revealed that bullying increases the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders for decades after the incidents, and not just for the victims. The researchers kept tabs on more than 1000 children for up to 20 years and discovered that victims of bullying, and even the bullies themselves, are much more likely to develop severe problems into adulthood.
The lead author of the study, Dr. William Copeland, said one group was even more troubled than the others: those who responded to being the victims of bullying by bullying others.