Bullying and Mental Health

Abstract:

In 2015, nearly 6,000 youths ages 10-24 died from suicide because of previous bullying. Ages 15-19 has been on the rise in the past decade (Li & Shi, 2018). There are 3 main types of bullying physical, mental and cyber. Bullying and cyber bullying can play a negative role in our daily lives. Bullying is treating someone cruelly, insultingly, threateningly, or aggressively or forcing someone to do something through compulsion or force that was being intimidated into accepting their offer (merriam-webster.com). Cyber bullying is bullying someone through social media or electronically. Bystanders often also receive consequences of bullying. The mental health issues that can cause a person to become a bully include substance abuse, poor general health, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression, and increased thoughts of suicide. These factors can also be the consequences of bullying, being a victim can cause the same effects that can make somebody a bully. Bullying plays a role in our mental health, I believe that bullying does have a large impact on mental health. This study was conducted with 90 participants ages 18 and older. The participants are from the buffalo area and were asked to complete 4 different surveys based on past bullying experiences and victimization along with their mental health. The surveys that they had to complete were the Bullying Survey for Students, Measuring bullying, victimization, Perpetration, and bystander experiences, Depression and anxiety self-assessment quiz, and the Mental health screening. I predict that my study will show a positive correlation between both bullying and mental health. As bullying increases so does negative mental health, lower amounts of bullying mean lower amounts of mental health because of bullying.