Bullying - what makes children victims?

Peer victimization (bullying) is increasingly recognized as a major social problem with international statistics showing that up to 1 in 10 youths are the target of physical attacks, hostile words and social aggression from their peers during their school years. The same children tend to be bullied throughout the course of their childhood and adolescence and the consequences can include depression, loneliness, low self-esteem, physical health problems, alcohol and drug abuse, self-harm and suicidal ideation. A study of 1,970 children in Quebec, Canada, tracked them from 3 to 6 and then asked them, and their teachers, about their experience of bullying at 7. The researchers found that high levels of harsh, reactive parenting, physical aggression by the children themselves and low parental income were all linked to an increase risk of children being victimized.

Barker, Edward D. ... [et al] - Predictive validity and early predictors of peer-victimization trajectories in preschool Archives of General Psychiatry October 2008, 65(10), 1185-1192