title: Being bullied during childhood and the prospective pathways to self-harm in late adolescence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether being bullied between 7 and 10 years of age is directly associated with self-harm in late adolescence when controlling for previous exposure to an adverse family environment (domestic violence, maladaptive parenting); concurrent internalizing and externalizing behavior; and subsequent psychopathology (borderline personality disorder and depression symptoms).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 4,810 children and adolescents in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort were assessed to ascertain bullying exposure (between 7 and 10 years of age) and self-harm at 16 to 17 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 16.5% of 16- to 17-year-olds reported self-harm in the previous year. Being bullied was associated with an increased risk of self-harm directly, and indirectly via depression symptoms in early adolescence. The association between an adverse family environment (exposure to maladaptive parenting and domestic violence) and self-harm was partially mediated by being bullied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Being bullied during childhood increases the risk of self-harm in late adolescence via several distinct pathways, for example, by increasing the risk of depression and by exacerbating the effects of exposure to an adverse family environment; as well as in the absence of these risk exposures. Health practitioners evaluating self-harm should be aware that being bullied is an important potential risk factor.
authors.affiliation: University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
authors.forename: Suzet Tanya
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lereya
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Winsper
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heron
authors.forename: Glyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gunnell
authors.forename: Helen L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*