Long-term bullying has lasting mental health effect on victims

Long-term bullying can have a lasting effect on young victims' well-being and its negative effects can accumulate with time, a study quoted by media reports Tuesday suggests.

In the study, the researchers surveyed nearly 4,297 students from three U.S. cities.

They collected the data from students when they were in 5th and 10th grades by interviewing the subjects about their mental health and respective experiences with bullying.

Researchers found particularly striking differences in mental health when comparing children who had been bullied with those who had not.

Among the 5th-graders, about 4 percent of kids who had not been bullied showed low psychological health, far less than the 31 percent of kids who had been bullied.

In addition, by 10th grade, 45 percent of students who'd been chronically victimized fell into the category of "low" mental health.

For those children, mental health scores declined over time and its negative effects can accumulate and get worse with time.

"The effects of bullying can snowball over time," said by Dr. Bogart, one of the study's lead authors from Boston.

She pointed that anti-bullying early is the best way to help victims. Teachers, students, family members and anyone else who are involved in this should not be afraid to speak up.