title: Child and parental reports of bullying in a consecutive sample of children with food allergy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The social vulnerability that is associated with food allergy (FA) might predispose children with FA to bullying and harassment. This study sought to quantify the extent, methods, and correlates of bullying in a cohort of food-allergic children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patient and parent (83.6% mothers) pairs were consecutively recruited during allergy clinic visits to independently answer questionnaires. Bullying due to FA or for any cause, quality of life (QoL), and distress in both the child and parent were evaluated via questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 251 families who completed the surveys, 45.4% of the children and 36.3% of their parents indicated that the child had been bullied or harassed for any reason, and 31.5% of the children and 24.7% of the parents reported bullying specifically due to FA, frequently including threats with foods, primarily by classmates. Bullying was significantly associated with decreased QoL and increased distress in parents and children, independent of the reported severity of the allergy. A greater frequency of bullying was related to poorer QoL. Parents knew about the child-reported bullying in only 52.1% of the cases. Parental knowledge of bullying was associated with better QoL and less distress in the bullied children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bullying is common in food-allergic children. It is associated with lower QoL and distress in children and their parents. Half of the bullying cases remain unknown to parents. When parents are aware of the bullying, the child's QoL is better. It is important to proactively identify and address cases in this population.
authors.affiliation: Division of Behavioral and Developmental Health, Department of Pediatrics and Kravis Children's Hospital, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Box 1198, 1 Gustave L Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA. eyal.shemesh@mssm.edu
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shemesh
authors.forename: Rachel A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Annunziato
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ambrose
authors.forename: Noga L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Ravid
authors.forename: Chloe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mullarkey
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rubes
authors.forename: Kelley
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Mati
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sicherer
authors.forename: Scott H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Sicherer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires