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King’s College London has published new research examining links between cyberbullying and mental health conditions in adolescents in the UK. Based on longitudinal data, the study looked at the mental health of 2,066 British 18-year-olds and their experiences of cyberbullying and offline forms of victimisation between the ages of 12 and 18. One in five adolescents reported being “moderately” or “severely” cyberbullied and findings show that they were more likely to have mental health conditions at age 18 compared with those not cyberbullied. However, it was only in anxiety disorder that the evidence suggests a potential direct causal link. The research highlights how cyberbullying usually occurs alongside other offline harms in young people’s lives and calls for policymakers to consider both online and offline challenges when addressing young people’s mental health.
Read the news story: Debates about bullying need to look beyond online safety say researchers
Read the study: Cybervictimisation and mental health conditions in young people: findings from a nationally representative longitudinal cohort