Bullied Preemies Have A Higher Risk Of Developing Mental Illnesses

A study about children who were born prematurely and are being bullied shows that they are almost twice as likely to develop mental illnesses when they reach their 20s, according to a study by author Kimberly Day from McMaster University in Ontario. These children, who are also called preemies, may develop mental health problems like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit hyper disorder (ADHD), and anxiety.

Those preemies who are experiencing excessive bullying in their childhood even have a higher risk. As posted by Tribune, Day said, "Their risk for anxiety disorders is especially high, particularly among those who are exposed to bullying on a regular basis."

Day also added that bullying has a significant lasting effect on those preemies and when they reach the age of 30s, their risk progresses and it even gets higher compared to those who are their 20s. Those who reaches the ages of 30s are more likely to have mental disorders like obsessive-compulsive disorders, panic disorders and social anxiety.

The result of the study has given the implication that parents, teachers and health care professionals should be cautioned about the mental health effects of bullying to preemies. They should stop any bullying if possible.

This study was conducted in Ontario on newborn premature babies who have extreme low birth weight (ELBW) that weighed lesser than 2.2 lbs. This was done in between the years of 1977 and 1982.

These premature babies were interviewed by the researchers at age 8, 20 to 26 then interviewed again by the age of 29-36. They have compared their interview results with those children born in the same year span that are normal in weight and concluded their study.

In an additional report coming from CBC, Day explained that the result of this study may not be a guarantee to all. The kind of bullying before is not the same as bullying nowadays.

We have this type called cyber bullying which is totally different to the kind of bullying when they conducted the study. This was more on verbal and physical bullying so Day said that there may be a need of study replications.