Being Bullied Tied to Anxiety, Depression in Special-Needs Kids
by American Academy of Pediatrics, news release, April 29, 2012
More than chronic conditions themselves, maltreatment by peers added to mental distress in small study.
SUNDAY, April 29 (HealthDay News) — Special-needs youth with chronic medical conditions or developmental disabilities are at risk for anxiety and depression if they’re excluded, ignored or bullied by other young people, a new small study says.
It included 109 youngsters, ages 8 to 17, who were recruited during routine visits to a U.S. children’s hospital. The patients and their parents completed questionnaires that screen for symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the youngsters also completed a questionnaire that asked them about bullying or exclusion by their peers.
The patients in the study had one or more conditions such as: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (39 percent); cystic fibrosis (22 percent); type 1 or 2 diabetes (19 percent); sickle cell disease (11 percent); obesity (11 percent); learning disability (11 percent); autism (9 percent); and short stature (6 percent).