Sibling Bullying Just as Dangerous as Peer Bullying, Says Study

By Daniel Distant, Christian Post Reporter Monday, June 17, 2013

Sibling bullying could be just as dangerous as bullying by peers, according to a new study. The study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics, also claimed that sibling bullying could lead to mental illness the same way bullying by strangers or peers can.

"Historically [sibling bullying] has been accepted as something that's normal, as something that's benign. Oftentimes it's just dismissed," Corrina Jenkins Tucker, an associate professor of family studies at the University of New Hampshire and the author of the study, said in a press release. "Some people actually view it as a good thing, thinking it teaches kids how to fight and develop conflict resolution skills."

The data came from interviews with nearly 3,600 homes- researchers from the National Survery of Children's Exposure to Violence had asked either adults or their children if siblings bullied each other in the home. Bullying, for the survey's purposes, meant physical assault, property destruction or theft, verbal abuse or other psychological harassment.

Interviews revealed correlations between bullying and feelings of depression, anger, anxiety, regardless of the frequencies of the incidents.

"Even kids who reported just one instance had more mental health distress," Tucker said. "Our study shows that sibling aggression is not benign for children and adolescents, regardless of how severe or frequent."

Children under age 9 were more affected by the mild bullying and manifested more signs of mental health distress as opposed to children ages 10 to 17. Still, all children were affected at equal rates when correlating overall mental health issues.

It was estimated that 32 percent of children went through sibling bullying, which makes it 4 to 5 times more likely than spousal or parental child abuse.

"Our society tends to minimize child-on-child violence in general," John V. Caffaro, a clinical psychologist who was not involved in the study, told The New York Times. "We have these ideas that if you're hurt by a child it's less injurious than if you're hurt by an adult, but the data don't support that."

The conclusion by the study was that pediatricians should mention sibling bullying issues to children's parents and families should take advantage of programs that demonstrate how to stop conflict and aggression between children.