A new study in the journal Pediatrics finds that bullying is associated with poor physical and mental health among children， particularly among those who were bullied in the past and are being currently bullied.

The effects were strongest among children who were bullied continuously， in more than one grade， particularly in terms of psychological health， said lead author Laura Bogart， associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital. Psychological measures included negative emotions such as anger and depression.

\"We were able to show that these effects of bullying snowballed and compounded over time，\" Bogart said.

Researchers found particularly striking differences in mental health when comparing children who had been bullied with those who had not. Among fifth-graders， about 4% of kids who had not been bullied showed low psychological health， far less than the 31% of kids who had been bullied.

In later years， researchers found a strong relationship between low psychological health and bullying， especially among children who said they were being bullied at that time， or both at that time and in the past.

Physical health had a similar relationship to bullying， although the relationship between bullying and physical health was not as strong as with mental health.

Those who experienced past and present bullying also tended to have worse symptoms of depression than other children surveyed. The worst depression symptoms were shown by 30% of 10th-graders bullied in the past and present， compared with 19% of those bullied only currently， 13% of those bullied in the past only and 8% of those who had not been bullied.

Similarly， the largest group of 10th-graders with the lowest self-worth were those who had been bullied in the past and the present.

\"Although bullying in the present was a stronger predictor of poor health than past bullying， past bullying predicted poorer present health after considering present bullying，\" the study said.

About 30% of participants said in at least one of the three rounds of interviews that they had experienced frequent bullying.

We can't conclude from this study design that bullying causes poor health outcomes. Researchers looked only at associations. Nonetheless， the findings corroborate many other studies linking bullying to worse health. Also， the study was conducted in three U.S. metropolitan areas and only in public schools; the situations in different geographic areas， and different kinds of school， may vary.

\"What these results show are a strong argument for an immediate intervention， early intervention， before the effects of bullying can get too serious for mental and physical health，\" Bogart said. She encourages parents to have an open line of communication with their children and to always ask how their day went. There may be physical signs of bullying， such as bruises or scrapes， but a more subtle red flag might be a reluctance to go to school. Sadness， depression and isolation are also possible indications of bullying.

\"Parents and teachers can teach kids the importance of respect and acceptance of other people and to speak out when they see bullying，\" Bogart said.

兒科期刊一項新的研究顯示，兒童的身心問題與校園欺凌現(xiàn)象相關(guān)。當(dāng)曾經(jīng)受過欺凌的孩子再度受到欺凌時，就很容易導(dǎo)致心理或生理問題。波士頓兒童醫(yī)院兒科醫(yī)生Bogart說:“我們可以證明欺凌的危害會隨時間像滾雪球一樣與日俱增?！闭{(diào)查指出，多次受欺凌的孩子更容易出現(xiàn)抑郁的癥狀。在過去和現(xiàn)在都遭受欺凌的孩子中，30%會出現(xiàn)抑郁；只在當(dāng)下受欺凌的孩子中，19%的孩子會出現(xiàn)抑郁；曾在過去遭受欺凌的孩子中，13%會出現(xiàn)抑郁；而在從未受過欺凌的孩子中，這個數(shù)值為8%?！凹议L和教師應(yīng)該對校園欺凌事件給予更多關(guān)注，鼓勵孩子在受到欺凌時以正確的方式尋求幫助。”

[http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/17/bullyings-mental-health-toll-may-last-years/?hpt=hp_bn13]