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The problem
Intervention: None - this is an observational study examining the natural relationship between bullying and body dissatisfaction
Who it was tested with: Adolescents from two UK birth cohorts (ALSPAC n=10,005 born 1991-1993; MCS n=10,950 born 2000-2002), including marginalised groups.
Children or communities are compared with a group that did not receive the intervention, or followed over years. This is the design that best separates what the intervention did from everything else that changed.
"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)." This prospective longitudinal design with two independent cohorts provides strong evidence for the association between childhood bullying and subsequent body dissatisfaction.
Observational design prevents causal inference. Study does not isolate appearance-based bullying. Marginalised identities analysed separately but not their intersections.
Across countries and designs
50 studies · 32 countries
