Meta-analysis Finds Link Between Bullying and Drug, Alcohol, Tobacco Use Later in Life

An analysis suggests that, compared to their non-bullying peers, bullying children and adolescents have higher risk of drug, alcohol, and tobacco use later in life. The analysis also found that childhood bullies have more risk of alcohol and tobacco use later in life than adolescent bullies. The study by Dutch researchers, “Childhood and Adolescent Bullying Perpetration and Later Substance Use: A Meta-Analysis,” which will be published in the March 2021 issue of Pediatrics (published online Feb. 17), notes that previous meta-analyses have substantially contributed to the understanding of increased drug use risk in bullies, but they only included research up to 2014 and only reported on drug use, not on alcohol and tobacco. For the meta-analysis, peer-reviewed articles and dissertations in English were used that reported original empirical studies on associations between bullying in childhood or adolescence and later use of drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. For future research, it would be interesting to investigate bullying as a so-called causal risk factor, as this type of research may provide the basis for preventive interventions, the authors conclude.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.