Study: Half of Teens Admit Bullying in Last Year

Half of teens admit bullying in past year. Credit: AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Half of high school students say they've bullied someone in the past year, and nearly half say they've been the victim of bullying, according to a national study released Tuesday.

The survey by the Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics asked more than 43,000 high school students whether they'd been physically abused, teased or taunted in a way that seriously upset them. Forty-three percent said yes, and 50 percent admitted to being the bully.

The institute's president, Michael Josephson, said the study shows more bullying goes on at later ages than previously thought, and remains extremely prevalent through high school.

"Previous to this, the evidence was bullying really peaks in middle school," Josephson told The Associated Press.

He said the Internet has intensified the effect of taunting and intimidation because of its reach and its permanence.

"It's the difference between punching someone and stabbing him. The wounds are so much deeper," Josephson said.

Josephson added the survey's results don't surprise him because his group has conducted similar studies without publishing the results. But he said he still finds the numbers "alarming."

In the survey, 10 percent of teens admitted bringing a weapon to school at least once, and 16 percent admitted being drunk at school.

Josephson said that means victims of bullying are in danger of striking back violently.

"You have a combination that is a toxic cocktail," Josephson said.

The study reported responses from 43,321 high school students from around the country, and the margin of error was less than 1 percent.

Rick Hesse, a professor of decision sciences at Pepperdine University, said the survey involved voluntary self-reporting and was therefore not a random, stratified sample of the U.S. population. But he said the large number of people surveyed and the lack of corrupting factors mean certain valid conclusions can be drawn from the results.

The study's release comes in a year of several high-profile suicides related to bullying, including that of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of Massachusetts, who prosecutors say was relentlessly bullied by the six girls charged in her death.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education sent letters to schools, colleges and universities around the country warning them that failing to adequately address ethnic, sexual or gender-based harassment could put them in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. This article was written by ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press Writer.

ADHD Linked to Childhood Depression
By Amy Capetta

Children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder at the ages of 4 and 6 are more likely to suffer from depression than other adolescents, according to a long-term study published in the October issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Children with ADHD were also more likely to think about or attempt suicide five to 13 years after diagnosis.

The 14-year study, which was performed by researchers at both the University of Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh, followed 123 children diagnosed with ADHD from adolescence -- ages 4 or 6 -- until they reached the ages 18 or 20. The researchers found that 18 percent of children diagnosed early with ADHD suffered from depression and were 10 times more likely to be depressed than children who did not receive an early ADHD diagnosis. Children with ADHD also were five times as likely to have considered suicide at least once, and twice as likely to have made an attempt.

"The study is important for providing another reason for concluding that ADHD in children is not something to take lightly," study author Benjamin Lahey, professor of health studies and psychiatry at the University of Chicago, told AOL Health. "However, my great concern about press coverage of this paper is that parents will panic and think their children with ADHD are destined for depression or suicide. That is not true."

In the formal release, Lahey elaborated on this point, saying, "Suicide attempts were relatively rare, even in the study group. Parents should keep in mind that more than 80 percent of the children with ADHD did not attempt suicide and no one in this study committed suicide."

The research breaks down these statistics into more specific categories. For example, girls were at greater risk for depression than boys, and children whose mothers suffered from depression were also more likely to suffer from depression.

"Instead of attempting to tell mothers and fathers what to look for or how to parent their children with ADHD, I think we should be advising them to seek help from a mental health professional who is trained in cognitive-behavior therapy with families -- which is the approach that has been shown to work best with children with ADHD," Lahey told AOL Health. "This type of professional can get to know the child and family well, decide if the child actually has ADHD and provide advice that is tailored to the family's specific circumstances."