Childhood bullying and mental health – part one

Childhood bullying has significant impacts on the mental health and wellbeing of children. These effects can extend well into adulthood, especially if there is little or no intervention.

Understandings and official definitions of childhood bullying have varied over the years, which has made it difficult for bullying to be recognised as a mental health issue for children. This also lends itself to misunderstandings in labelling children as ‘bullies’ or ‘victims’.

This episode is part one of a two-part series on childhood bullying and mental health. In this episode, Nicole Rollbusch talks to Dr Lesley-Anne Ey, a senior lecturer and researcher at Education Futures and the Australian Centre for Child Protection at the University of South Australia. Dr Ey shares how definitions of childhood bullying vary and the impact this can have on children. Dr Ey also discusses the influence of bullying on children’s mental health and the role of prevention and early intervention in reducing these effects. She explores the mental health impact of labelling children as ‘bullies’ or ‘victims’ and links these considerations to practice for health and social services professionals.

In this episode you will learn:

• the definition of bullying, how understandings can differ, and the consequences for children’s wellbeing [01:45]
• the effects of childhood bullying on mental health [08:25]
• the importance of early intervention [12:05]
• the impact of labelling a child as the ‘bully’ or ‘victim’ and how practitioners can shift these labels to support child mental health [18:29]

Further information and resources:

Online course:

Understanding childhood bullying and mental health

Practice papers:

Working with families to prevent bullying

Exploring bullying in context: Children’s relationships, friendships and social functioning

Supporting families to navigate school responses to bullying

Identifying and responding to bullying in the pre-teen years: The role of primary health care practitioners

Podcast:

Childhood bullying and mental health – part two (released next fortnight)

Webinar:

Working with children who are experiencing or engaging in bullying behaviour