Bullied children more likely to self harm

Children who are bullied before the age of 12 are up to three times more likely to self harm than those who are not.

Researchers from King’s College London, studied data on 2141 children born between 1994/95 in England and Wales.

They found that of 237 children who were frequent victims of bullying, 8 per cent had self harmed.

Of the 1904 who had not been bullied, only 2 per cent had self harmed.

The findings published on Bmj.com, also revealed that certain factors increased the risk of self harm in children who were bullied.

These were a family history of self harm and behavioural and emotional problems.

Self-harm symptoms were classed as: cutting and biting arms; pulling out clumps of hair; banging head against walls; attempted suicides by strangulation.