Victims And Bullies At Increased Risk Of Eating Disorders

Victims of bullying are at an increased risk of anxiety, depression and eating disorders, according to a recent study. Yet in a surprising twist, bullies are also at an increased risk as well.

Researchers at Duke Medicine and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine studied 1,420 children based on an analysis of interviews from the Great Smoky Mountains Study--a database with over two decades of health information on participants who enrolled at the age of nine.

Participants in the study were divided into four categories, including the following: Children who were not bullies or bullied; victims of bullying, children who sometimes were victims or instigators; and children who were solely bullies, without becoming a victim themselves.

From the sample, 11.2 percent of bullied victims showed symptoms of anorexia when compared to 5.2 percent who were not bullied and 27.9 showed symptoms of bulimia when compared to a 17.6 percent who had not.

Those who had both been bullies and victims of bullying had the highest risk for anorexia at 22.8 percent and a 2.8 percent risk of binge eating compared to less than one percent of children who were neither.

Yet researchers also found that bullies themselves showed a 30.8 percent risk of bulimia compared to a 17.6 percent risk of children who were not bullies.

"Sadly, humans do tend to be most critical about features in other people that they dislike most in themselves," said Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of eating disorders at the UNC School of Medicine and a co-author, in a news release. "The bullies' own body dissatisfaction could fuel their taunting of others. Our findings tell us to raise our vigilance for eating disorders in anyone involved in bullying exchanges -- regardless of whether they are the aggressor, the victim, or both."

Fortunately, many children come out unscathed following such circumstances. Now researchers are looking at financial and educational outcomes, as well as if bullying or being victimized is associated with any genetic biomarkers. 

The study is published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

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