Childhood Bullying Linked to Distrust and Psychotic Risk in Adolescence

A new study co-led by UCLA Health and the University of Glasgow found that young teenagers who develop a strong distrust of other people as a result of childhood bullying are substantially more likely to have significant mental health problems as they enter adulthood. The study, published in the journal Nature Mental Health, used data from 10,000 children in the UK and found that adolescents bullied at age 11 and who developed greater interpersonal distrust by age 14 were around 3.5 times more likely to experience clinically significant mental health problems at age 17. The findings could help develop evidence-based interventions to counter the negative mental health impacts of bullying.