Bullying affects most Adolescents, Popularity Increases the Risk of Getting Bullied

Bullying affects more than just those children who are seen to be isolated and marginalised, according to sociologists.

In fact, researchers have found that the 'popular' students are affected and may actually suffer more from a single act of social aggression.

"We did find that students who are isolated do get bullied," said Diane Felmlee, professor of sociology, Penn State.

Diane Felmlee

"However, for most students, the likelihood of being targeted by aggressive acts increases as a student becomes more popular, with the exception of those at the very top."

In a study of students and their friendship networks in 19 North Carolina schools, the researchers found that the risk of being bullied drops dramatically only for the adolescents in the top five percent of the school's social strata.

Bullying may be a tactical form of aggression, according to the researchers, who report their findings in the current issue of American Sociological Review (pdf).

Young people who are attempting to climb in status may increase their risk of victimization.

Robert Faris

"When youth are vying for status, they probably gain little from attacking students who are already marginalised, in fact, it might backfire," said Felmlee, who worked with Robert Faris, associate professor, University of California Davis.

"But, if adolescents put down someone who is trying to be a leader in their group, or who constitutes a threat to their status, then there is a lot more to be gained."

Faris and Felmlee also found that girls are more likely to be victims of both male and female bullies. Girls who date are at increased risk of physical violence.

"Girls may pose particular threats to other female students' social standing and represent potential rivals when it comes to securing a boyfriend," said Felmlee.

"For boys, girls who date represent rewarding, often popular and relatively easy targets who are unlikely to retaliate physically."

Students who have an aggressive friend tend to avoid being victimized. This may be further evidence that bullying is rarely an individual act, but associated with how friends establish and maintain hierarchies by protecting their own, according to the researchers.

There are serious costs associated with bullying over time, Felmlee said. Victims suffer elevated levels of anxiety, depression and anger. They tend to develop negative feelings about their schools, as well.

Bullying's detrimental effects can be even more pronounced among relatively popular students, according to the researchers.

Higher status students experienced significantly larger increases in depression, anxiety and anger than low-status students.

The friendships of these students also deteriorated.

"The effects of social aggression were magnified by the student's friendship status," said Felmlee.

"It may be that the kids who are extremely popular and rarely victimized had farther to fall than those more accustomed to being a target, so, although socially vulnerable youth suffer significantly from frequent harassment, more central victims of bullying, those who may be 'hidden in plain sight' face serious consequences."

The researchers examined data from the Context of Adolescent Substance Use study, which surveyed about 4,200 middle and high school students twice during the school year.

The surveys included questions on serious verbal and physical harassment, but did not include minor incidents, such as playful teasing.

The students were asked to provide information about their friendships, as well as information about students whom they believe they harassed and about those who they believe harassed them.

TOSCA Study: Concerta® and Risperdal®, help adolescents with ADHD, aggression

Prescribing both a stimulant and an antipsychotic drug to children with physical aggression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), along with teaching parents to use behaviour management techniques, reduces aggressive and serious behavioural problems in the children.

This is the result of a study conducted by researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

The study was conducted in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh, Stony Brook University in New York and Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

The findings published online this week ahead of publication in the January issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

"Combination pharmacotherapy is becoming common in child and adolescent psychiatry, but there has been little research evaluating it," said first author Michael Aman, director of clinical trials at Ohio State's Nisonger Center and emeritus professor of psychology.

"Our findings may be considered somewhat controversial because they appear to support the use of two drugs over one for treating children with aggression and disruptive behaviour when things do not seem to be going well.

Many practitioners have been taught to 'Keep things simple and safe' in their medical training. In general, this is good advice."

For the "Treatment of Severe Childhood Aggression (TOSCA) Study," 168 children ages 6 to 12 who had been diagnosed with ADHD and displayed significant physical aggression were divided into two groups.

All study participants received a psychostimulant drug called OROS methylphenidate (Concerta®) and their parents received behavioural parent training for nine weeks.

The researchers called this treatment combination "basic" because both are evidence-based and have been shown to be helpful for improving both ADHD and aggression.

Researchers wanted to see if they could expand or augment this treatment by adding a second medication. If there was room for improvement at the end of the third week, a placebo was added for the "basic group," while the antipsychotic drug Risperidone (RISPERDAL®) was added for participants in the "augmented group."

Compared to the "basic group," the "augmented group" who received the stimulant drug and parent training plus risperidone showed significant improvement (on average with moderately better behaviour) on the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form (NCBRF) Disruptive-Total Scale, the NCBRF Social Competence subscale and the Reactive Aggression part of the Antisocial Behaviour Scale.

While there is always some risk with the addition of a second drug to the treatment package, the two drugs seemed to neutralize some of each other's potential side effects.

For instance, children in the augmented group did not seem to have as much trouble falling asleep, once the risperidone was added, Aman said.

"We conducted this study because we viewed the combination of ADHD and significant physical aggression – especially the aggression – as a serious situation," Aman said.

"It is not uncommon to use more than one medicine for other serious situations, such as when treating cancer or epilepsy for instance."

"Although doctors have often used stimulants and antipsychotics together in recent years, we did not have good evidence until now that they would work more effectively when carefully staged and given together."

More information: "Treatment of Severe Childhood Aggression (TOSCA) Study,"