Impact of victimisation on youth’s mental health and its subsequent risk to drug addiction: insights from the global perspective

Purpose This article explores the interconnection between childhood bullying victimisation and mental health and its resulting risk of subsequent drug addiction on a comparative international scale. Toward this, the objective of this article is to bring out the awareness about the abiding impacts of childhood bullying and how it leads to substance abuse and mental health problems in both developed and low- and middle-income nations. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a narrative literature review, where various literature reviews are used as a study selection. The literature review has led to the unfolding of seven themes that depict psychological impacts, causal factors and dilemmas of victimisation by bullies on the mental health of youth. Findings The link between childhood bullying with the mental health of youths who engage in substance abuse has been depicted to be strong. It also shows that victims of childhood bullying are at high risk of developing anxiety, depression and other mental issues. Further, a strong association also exists between drug addiction behaviour and bullied victims among the youth. Findings also indicate that bullying rates and substance use characteristics differ across the world, with developed nations reporting higher cyberbullying rates, whereas developing nations report higher victimisation rates, whether physical or social, resulting in drug addiction. Practical implications This narrative review can be an eye-opener for the schools, communities, organisations and policymakers to establish comprehensive anti-bullying programs and mental health support programs with an aim of eliminating bullying and providing help to the victims of bullying. The article encourages the context-specific interventions, especially regarding low- and middle-income nations in which the level of mental health support and policy implementation is still insufficient based on global policy lessons. Originality/value This narrative literature review will complement the existing research on childhood victimisation by bullying, mental health consequences and its predisposition to drug addiction. It adds an international comparative perspective, establishing cross-cultural similarities and differences, like bullying and its psychological impact. In addition, it provides the necessity of context-specific solutions to focus on these issues.