The Causal Effects of Adolescent School Bullying Victimisation on Later Life Outcomes

57 Pages Posted: 21 May 2019 Last revised: 19 May 2022

See all articles by Emma Gorman

Emma Gorman

Lancaster University

Colm P. Harmon

The University of Sydney - School of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Silvia Mendolia

University of Wollongong

Anita Staneva

The University of Sydney - School of Economics

Ian Walker

Lancaster University

Abstract

We use rich data on a cohort of English adolescents to analyse the long-term effects of experiencing bullying victimisation in junior high school. The data contain self-reports of five types of bullying and their frequency, for three waves of the data, when the pupils were aged 13 to 16 years. Using a variety of estimation strategies - least squares, matching, inverse probability weighting, and instrumental variables - we assess the effects of bullying victimisation on short- and long-term outcomes, including educational achievements, earnings, and mental ill-health at age 25 years. We handle potential measurement error in the child self-reports of bullying type and frequency by instrumenting with corresponding parental cross-reports. Using a detailed longitudinal survey linked to administrative data, we control for many of the determinants of bullying victimisation and child outcomes identified in previous literature, paired with comprehensive sensitivity analyses to assess the potential role of unobserved variables. The pattern of results strongly suggests that there are important long run effects on victims - stronger than correlation analysis would otherwise suggest. In particular, we find that both type of bullying and its intensity matters for long run outcomes.

Keywords: bullying, victimization, long term outcomes

JEL Classification: I21, I24, I26, J24

Suggested Citation

Gorman, Emma and Harmon, Colm P. and Mendolia, Silvia and Staneva, Anita and Walker, Ian, The Causal Effects of Adolescent School Bullying Victimisation on Later Life Outcomes. IZA Discussion Paper No. 12241, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3390230

Emma Gorman

Lancaster University

Colm P. Harmon

The University of Sydney - School of Economics ( email )

Rm 370 Merewether (H04)
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006 2008
Australia

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Silvia Mendolia

University of Wollongong ( email )

Northfields Avenue
Wollongong, 2522
Australia

Anita Staneva

The University of Sydney - School of Economics ( email )

Rm 370 Merewether (H04)
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006 2008
Australia

Ian Walker (Contact Author)

Lancaster University ( email )

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