Key Takeaways
Bullying during adolescence is linked to higher anxiety and depression
Feeling connected at school helps protect teens
Nearly 12% of teens reported being bullied at both ages 9 and 15
THURSDAY, Aug. 28, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Teens who feel connected to their school may be better protected from depression linked to bullying, new research suggests.
The study — published in the journal BMC Public Health — analyzed data from 2,175 adolescents born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000.
Researchers found that bullying during adolescence was more strongly linked to anxiety and depression than bullying in childhood.
“This finding might be due in part to the heightened social sensitivity of adolescents to their peers and the significant influence of peer relationships amongst teenagers than children," said co-author Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, a pediatrician and researcher at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
"Likewise, we saw that school connectedness was more protective against depression in teens than in younger children," she added in a news release.
The study showed that school connectedness — feeling safe, included and supported at school — significantly reduced the risk of depression for teens who had recently been bullied, but not for those bullied earlier in childhood.
“Teachers can foster peer support by encouraging students to learn more about each other and incorporating collaborative projects into the curriculum to better enable groups of students to work together," Heard-Garris said.
Researchers found that:
11.9% of participants experienced bullying at both ages 9 and 15 (long-term).
43% experienced bullying only at age 9, while 5.7% reported bullying only at age 15.
Those bullied both in childhood and adolescence had the highest depression and anxiety scores, with average anxiety levels of 6.9 on an 18-point scale and depression scores of 4.7 out of 15.
Importantly, extracurricular activities did not significantly buffer anxiety or depression symptoms, suggesting that feeling connected within the school environment itself plays a larger role.
“Although our data shows that bullying was more common during childhood, adolescence emerged as the more vulnerable period in terms of psychological distress,” Heard-Garris said.
“Future studies should consider whether the influences of peer bullying in adolescence persist in early, middle and late adulthood,” she added.
More information
National School Safety and Security Services has more on the importance of social bonding in school.
SOURCES: Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, news release, Aug. 20, 2025; BMC Public Health, Aug. 14, 2025
What This Means For You
If you’re a parent or educator, fostering a supportive school environment could help protect teens from bullying.
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