Study: Girls Who Are Bullied Suffer Longer than Boys Do

Researchers with two British universities have determined that girls who are bullied are much more likely to be victimized for longer periods of time than are boys who suffer similar fates at the hands of their peers.

According to a Jan. 13 article by Times Online writer Joanna Sugden, experts from the University of Warwick and the University of Hertfordshire believe that the long-term bullying may be reflective of the fact that girls form tighter bonds with a smaller group of friends at an earlier age than boys do:

"Once a girl is out of that network and a victim of bullying, it's much more difficult to get back in and be integrated, and they are more likely to become a victim of stable or chronic bullying," Dieter Wolke, who carried out the research, said.

The experiences of bullying encountered by 663 children were tracked at 6 and again at 10. Bullying was defined as experiencing physical or verbal abuse at least once a week over a period of six months.

The research also suggested that as children grow-up, they tend to suffer emotional rather than physical or verbal abuse. Only 10 per cent of the children said that they had endured emotional bullying, including exclusion from a friendship group, at [age] 6. By [age] 10, that figure had jumped to 25 per cent.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reports that as many as 50 percent of all students are bullied at least once during their academic careers, with about one in 10 believed to suffer from regular, ongoing bullying.

"Children who are bullied experience real suffering that can interfere with their social and emotional development, as well as their school performance," the AACAP reported in a May 2008 article on the organization's website. "Some victims of bullying have even attempted suicide rather than continue to endure such harassment and punishment."