Childhood bullying and body dissatisfaction in adolescents from marginalised groups

Abstract Background Experiences of being bullied have consistently been linked to body dissatisfaction. The present study aimed to investigate the longitudinal relationship between childhood bullying and body image outcomes in adolescents from two large UK-based cohorts. Analyses were conducted separately for marginalised groups to investigate unique risks. Methods Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, “Children of the 90s” born in 1991–1993) and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, including young people born in 2000–2002) were used. Childhood bullying was reported by N = 10,005 children at ages 5–11 (ALSPAC) and N = 10,950 children at 7–11 (MSC), while body dissatisfaction was self-reported at ages 10 and 14 (ALSPAC) and 11 and 14 (MSC). Results Experiences of childhood bullying were consistently associated with poorer body image outcomes in adolescents. While the ALSPAC cohort showed primarily significant associations for girls, MCS data indicated significant associations for both girls and boys. Marginalised identities did not moderate effects, except for ethnicity in 14-year-old girls (MSC), indicating a weaker effect for ethnic minority girls. Conclusions The present study provides further evidence for the role of childhood bullying experiences as a risk factor for body dissatisfaction in adolescents. Further research needs to investigate the role of intersectionality when exploring marginalised identities, as well as the unique role of appearance-based bullying on body dissatisfaction.