Trauma can make children more susceptible to bullying others or being bullied and new training for Scottish teachers, carers and parents is being rolled out following research undertaken at the University of the West of Scotland. 

The study, by Dr Maria Sapouna, showed that 31% of young people in Scotland experience bullying victimisation. Young people whose parents reported drug or alcohol misuse and females who were living with only one parent had higher odds of engaging in bullying others. Further analysis showed that females who had experienced three or more adverse childhood experiences were three times more likely to engage in bullying in mid-adolescence.

The research found that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) impact on the likelihood of young people displaying or experiencing bullying behaviour. ACEs are highly stressful and potentially traumatic events that occur during childhood or adolescence, either as recurring issues like emotional neglect or single events such as physical abuse. While not all ACEs result in trauma, they are strong predictors of bullying behaviour, with greater exposure to ACEs increasing the risk of either engaging in or experiencing bullying during adolescence.

respectme, Scotland’s Anti-Bullying Service, has used the research to inform their new Bullying and Trauma eLearning course. The training is free and aimed at all adults working with, or caring for, children and young people. Dr Sapouna’s research was also cited in the Scottish Government’s Respect for All national approach to anti-bullying for children and young people.

Dr Sapouna said: “We know that bullying can have a long-lasting impact so it’s gratifying that respectme is using the results of this research to inform training which we hope will see fewer children across Scotland bullied.”

Dr Sapouna’s academic interest in this area was a gift to our service and the collaboration with UWS has added significantly to the discourse on this topic.

Lorraine Glass, Director of respectme

Lorraine Glass, Director of respectme said: “Intuitively at respectme we believed that there could be an association between ACEs and Bullying, although there was no Scottish-specific research available to support this. Dr Sapouna’s academic interest in this area was a gift to our service and the collaboration with UWS has added significantly to the discourse on this topic. Translating the research into a practical, purposeful resource which can be freely accessed by practitioners and parents will bring knowledge and understanding to the sector, and, importantly, to families who may be unaware of the impact of ACEs and resultant trauma. In turn, the lives of children and young people may be safer and happier as a consequence of this new elearning module.”