Sibling bullying ‘linked to later mental health problems’

Children who are bullied or mistreated by their siblings are at a greater risk of suffering from mental health problems such as depression in later life, according to new UK research.

Conducted by the Universities of Oxford, Warwick, Bristol and UCL, the study revealed that children who had been bullied by their brothers or sisters several times a week or more during early adolescence were twice as likely to become clinically depressed as young adults.

This group was also shown to be twice as likely to have self-harmed within the previous year than those who had not been bullied. This is indicative of the serious impact such mistreatment can have during a child's formative years.

As such, the researchers called for interventions to specifically target this form of bullying, which often goes overlooked, but can be difficult to escape for those affected.

Professor Dieter Wolke, from the department of psychology and division of mental health and wellbeing at the University of Warwick, said: "It is important that parents set clear rules about what is allowed in conflicts and they should intervene consistently when their children maltreat each other repeatedly."

According to NHS data, about one in ten people in the UK will be clinically depressed at some point in their lives. This percentage stands at four percent among children aged five to 16.