mother talking to man about her daughter

Mental Health and Bullying: A Genetically Informative Approach

Principal investigator: Dr Jean-Baptiste Pingault

Location: UK

Funding Period: 2017-2020

More than one in five UK young people say they’ve recently been bullied, with cyberbullying in particular on the rise. But what long-term effect does this have on mental health?

We know that many young people who are bullied experience serious mental health problems, including self-harm. But we have little knowledge of whether bullying directly causes these problems, or whether other factors – like genetic influences or home life – are more likely to explain the relationship.

Dr Jean-Baptiste Pingault is investigating whether improving our understanding of the relationship between mental health and bullying can lead to more targeted and effective support for young people.

The project

Jean-Baptiste aimed to evaluate the impact of bullying—including cyberbullying—on mental health, and to understand why some children are more at risk of being bullied. This was achieved using genetically informed research designs, such as twin studies, to provide robust insights into both the consequences and origins of bullying victimisation.

The process

Jean-Baptiste examined information from three UK data sets. These major studies focus on children and parents, and included comprehensive information on mental health, bullying and the factors that can put people at risk of being bullied.

Using innovative statistical techniques, Jean-Baptiste explored the consequence of being bullied on the risk of developing various mental illnesses from childhood to early adulthood. He also explored other risk factors – studying everything from physical health to education to economic background.

The study used large-scale twin studies in England and Wales to compare twins with differing experiences of bullying, controlling for genetic and familial factors.

The outcome

Key Findings:

- Bullying (including cyberbullying) causally increases the risk of mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety, even after controlling for genetic and familial confounders;
- The negative effects of bullying on mental health diminish over time, suggesting potential for resilience in affected children;
- Children with prior mental health or cognitive vulnerabilities are more likely to be bullied, indicating a bidirectional relationship;
- Cyberbullying’s impact on mental health is similar to that of in-person bullying and often co-occurs with it.

Papers published

Schoeler, T., Duncan, L., Cecil, C. M., Ploubidis, G. B., & Pingault, J.-B. Quasi-experimental evidence on short- and long-term consequences of bullying victimization: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 2018
Schoeler T, Choi SW, Dudbridge F, Et Al. Multi–Polygenic Score Approach to Identifying Individual Vulnerabilities Associated With the Risk of Exposure to Bullying. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019
Eleonora Iob, Tabea Schoeler, Jean-Baptiste Pingault Et Al, Identifying risk factors involved in the common versus specific liabilities to substance abuse: A genetically informed approach 2019
Lim KX, Rijsdijk F, Hagenaars SP, Socrates A, Choi SW, Coleman JRI, Glanville KP, Lewis CM, Pingault JB. Studying individual risk factors for self-harm in the UK Biobank: A polygenic scoring and Mendelian randomisation study. PLoS Med. 2020
Chow, A.R.W., Pingault, JB. & Baldwin, J. Early risk factors for joint trajectories of bullying victimisation and perpetration. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 32, 2023.

The impact

You can read more about the impact of this study in this blog.

Practice and Policy:

- Findings highlight the need for interventions that not only prevent bullying but also support children with pre-existing vulnerabilities and promote resilience in those who have been bullied;
- The research has informed the design of educational materials for children, parents, and teachers, in partnership with the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families which was distributed to 3000 schools in England and Wales.

Research and Career:

- - The MQ fellowship was pivotal for Jean-Baptiste’s career progression, leading to further funding and recognition (e.g., Medical Research Foundation prize);
  - The project has contributed to the broader understanding of the complex relationship between bullying and mental health, influencing future research directions.

Society:

- The work underscores the importance of supporting recovery and resilience in children who experience bullying, aiming to improve long-term mental health outcomes.

Dr Jean-Baptiste Pingault

Dr Jean-Baptiste lectures at University College London’s Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology. He focuses on developmental psychopathology, epidemiological psychiatry, and behavioural genetics.