Bullying impact does not end with childhood, study says

The researchers told the New York Times that one limitation of the study was it did not analyze bullying frequency, nor did it distinguish between interpersonal and overt bullying. The assessment was limited, as well, to bullying at school, not in other venues.

"If the results of this study are dismaying because they indicate that bullying is permanently scarring, the findings also strengthen the argument for prevention," wrote Emily Bazelon, author of the book, Sticks and Stones, for Slate. She said Copeland told her the same thing.

“Consider me a reluctant convert, but I’m starting to view bullying the same way I do abuse in the home,” he said. “I honestly think the affects we’re observing here are just as potent. And that’s definitely not the way American researchers look at things. They want to know all about what parents are doing at home. Peers aren’t considered a priority. But these days, with all the time they spend on the Internet, kids are spending even more time with their peers, and that’s a factor we need to pay more attention to.”

Other researchers included Adrian Angold of Duke and Dieter Wolke of the University of Warwick, Coventry, England.

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