Study: Bullied girls at greater risk for substance abuse than boys

By Staff Writer

A new study shows that adolescent girls are more likely than boys to abuse substances due to bullying-related depression.

Researchers from the University of Washington examined the U.S. Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey, which questioned 1,495 10th-grade students about their bullying experiences, their emotions and their substance abuse habits. The study's findings appear in the journal Prevention Science.

Although all bullying victims, male or female, were at a greater risk for developing depression, researchers found that girls were more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol or smoke marijuana as a direct result of their bullying experiences.

Jeremy Luk, the lead author of the study, suggested that parents should be on the lookout for emotional disorders in their teens if they have been bullied at school or online. In light of the study's results, he said that parents of girls should especially be on the lookout for unhealthy behavior. Drugs and alcohol abuse in depressed teens can lead to long-term mental disorders, or even suicidal thoughts.

According to a survey conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center, approximately 8 percent of students reported being harassed online in 2009.