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Psychiatric News Alert
The Voice of the American Psychiatric Association and the Psychiatric Community
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Though Often Overlooked, Intra-Family Bullying Can Be Harmful
Bullying by brothers or sisters against their siblings is as bad as that from outsiders and is associated with worse children’s and adolescents’ mental health. A national sample of nearly 3,600 youth (or their caregivers) reported greater mental health distress in the youth in the prior year if they experienced psychological abuse or mild or severe physical assault by their siblings, said Corinna Jenkins Tucker, Ph.D., of the Department of Family Studies at the University of New Hampshire.
Physical aggression on the part of siblings was nearly as harmful as that perpetrated by nonfamily peers, and in cases of combined aggression—that originating both within and outside the family—caused nearly double the level of distress in the bullying victim.
“Sibling aggression is not benign for children and adolescents, regardless of how severe or frequent,” the researchers emphasized in the July Pediatrics. “An implication of our work is that parents, pediatricians, and the public should treat sibling aggression as potentially harmful and something not to be dismissed as normal, minor, or even beneficial. The mobilization to prevent and stop peer victimization and bullying should expand to encompass sibling aggression as well.”
To read more about research on bullying, see Psychiatric News here and here.
(Image: Keith Publicover/Shutterstock.com)For previous news alerts, click here.