Previous research had already shown that people who have been bullied face a greater risk of developing depressive symptoms. Franzen investigated factors that explain the relationship between bullying and depression.
Franzen conducted several experiments with small groups of bullied and non-bullied young people, during and after their secondary school years. She also used data from the large-scale TRAILS study. She found that bullied young people are less able to recognize other people's emotions. For example, they are more likely to interpret a neutral facial expression as hostile.
Depressive symptoms
Both during and after their secondary school years, victims of bullying reported more depressive symptoms. At secondary school, they perceived others as less friendly and more negative than their non-bullied peers. This difference disappeared after the school period. However, after leaving school, they had more difficulty dealing with dominant behavior from others. According to Franzen, dominant people may remind them of earlier experiences with bullies. This causes stress, which in turn can lead to depressive symptoms.
Victims of bullying have a less functional interpersonal style, Franzen concludes. She believes that interventions aimed at interpersonal functioning could help prevent victims of bullying from developing psychological problems.
Group process
It is important to provide guidance to victims of bullying, says Mirella van den Burg of the Netherlands Youth Institute. “But that does not address the bullying itself. Bullying is a group process in which bystanders also play an important role. It makes no sense to blame only the bully or the victim.”
Van der Burg: “If you want to combat bullying, it is important to teach all children how to interact positively with one another. For example, you can teach children to consider how a joke or comment comes across to the other person. Teach them how to read another person's body language. Help them put their feelings into words and understand those of others. Provide opportunities to practise these skills. Also make agreements together about how to stand up for one another when someone is bullied, what rules apply, for example, in the group chat and what behavior is appropriate there. Condemn bullying, but also show which social responses do work.”