Recalled Experiences of Bullying and Victimization in a Longitudinal,Population-Based Birth Cohort: The Influence of ADHD and Co-Occurring Psychiatric Disorder

Abstract

Objective:

To describe bullying experiences throughout childhood of people with and without childhood ADHD and co-occurring learning and psychiatric disorders from a population-based birth cohort.

Methods:

In a secondary data analysis of 199 childhood ADHD cases and 287 non-ADHD referents (N = 486), reported experiences of peer interactions during elementary, middle, or high school were classified as “bully,” “victim,” “neither,” or “both.” Associations were assessed with multinomial logistic regression.

Results:

Adjusted for male sex, the odds of classification as victim-only, victim/bully, or bully- only (vs. neither) were 3.70 (2.36–5.81), 17.71, and 8.17 times higher for childhood ADHD cases compared to non-ADHD referents. Victim-bullies (62.5%) and bullies (64.3%) had both childhood ADHD and other psychiatric disorders versus 38.4% of victims-only and 17.3% of those classified as “neither.”

Conclusion:

The list of serious lifetime consequences of having ADHD also includes bullying. We offer future research directions for determining potential causal pathways.

Keywords

ADHD bullying birth cohort

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