Bullying is a problem that not only embitters the lives of victims, but can also leave serious long-term consequences. In our country, around 220,000 students suffer bullying and more than 74,000 act as bullies, according to data from the ‘First Study on bullying and cyberbullying in Spain in childhood and adolescence’ carried out by the Preventive Psychology Unit of the Complutense University of Madrid together with the ColaCao Foundation.
Bullying, furthermore, not only has a devastating emotional impact, but can also leave lasting physiological traces, as shown by a new study that has analyzed how bullying affects brain development from adolescence to young adulthood and has found that it causes alterations in certain areas of the brain, and that the changes affect men and women differently.
The researchers relied on an exhaustive analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 2,094 participants (1,009 women) at three key time points: ages 14, 19, and 22, allowing them to observe specific changes in at least 49 brain regions. involved in memory, learning and motor movements over time and provided a more complete view of how chronic bullying can affect brain development in the transition to adulthood. Additionally, they assessed the intensity of bullying using the Olweus Bullying and Victim Questionnaire (OB/VQ) at each stage, to better understand its impact.
The results have been published in bioRxiv, a repository in which studies that have not yet been peer-reviewed (other scientists not involved in the research) are published so that they can be included in a scientific journal), and show that those who suffered Bullying showed an increase in the volume of certain subcortical areas of the brain, such as the putamen, caudate nucleus, accumbens, amygdala and hippocampus, while a decrease was observed in areas such as the cerebellum, entorhinal cortex and insula.
Interestingly, in women, more marked changes were recorded in areas related to emotional processing, while in men the changes were more evident in motor and sensory regions. These findings suggest that bullying is related to significant changes in brain development, which could help explain the emotional and behavioral problems observed in bullying victims. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of considering gender differences in future research and interventions.
Adolescence, a critical stage for brain development
During childhood and adolescence, bullying can negatively affect the mental and cognitive health of victims, and these effects can persist into adulthood, the authors explained in the article, adding that this is especially worrying in adolescence because It is a critical stage for brain development, which undergoes profound biological and psychological changes.
The developing brain is especially sensitive to stressors such as bullying, and constant exposure to bullying situations can cause lasting alterations in its structure and functioning and increase the risk of mental health problems. Bullying, furthermore, does not affect everyone in the same way. Some people experience chronic, severe bullying, while others experience it occasionally or mildly.
Bullying is linked to significant changes in brain development that could help explain the emotional and behavioral problems of bullying victims.
The new findings suggest that bullying is related to excessive activation of areas of the limbic system, especially the amygdala and hippocampus, which are key in the stress response. The volume of these areas can increase in response to harassment, while prolonged exposure to stress can damage other regions, reducing their thickness and volume.
This research, which has been carried out by an international team of experts from centers such as the Department of Psychiatry of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Heidelberg (Germany) or King’s College London, constitutes the largest of its kind to date and “highlights associations between chronic bullying and brain architecture, aligning with existing studies and identifying new brain changes related to bullying,” the authors note.
“In addition, it observes sex-specific differences in the relationship between bullying victimization and brain development, which provides important information to develop preventive strategies and therapeutic interventions tailored to people affected by bullying,” they conclude.
