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Peer-reviewedCC BYJournal of eating disorders

Childhood bullying and body dissatisfaction in adolescents from marginalised groups.

  • Marie-Christine Opitz1
  • Nora Trompeter2
  • Ulrike Schmidt3
  • Nadia Micali2,4
  • Helen Sharpe5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Health in Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. [email protected].
  2. 2Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, UCL, London, UK.
  3. 3Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
  4. 4Center for Eating and Feeding Disorders Research, Mental Health Center Ballerup, Copenhagen University Hospital-Mental Health Services CPH, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  5. 5Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Health in Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
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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.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{opitz2026childhood,
  title = {{Childhood bullying and body dissatisfaction in adolescents from marginalised groups.}},
  author = {Marie-Christine Opitz and Nora Trompeter and Ulrike Schmidt and Nadia Micali and Helen Sharpe},
  journal = {Journal of eating disorders},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1186/s40337-026-01709-4},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42894250},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Childhood bullying and body dissatisfaction in adolescents from marginalised groups.
AU  - Marie-Christine Opitz
AU  - Nora Trompeter
AU  - Ulrike Schmidt
AU  - Nadia Micali
AU  - Helen Sharpe
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/01
JO  - Journal of eating disorders
DO  - 10.1186/s40337-026-01709-4
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42894250
AB  - 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.
SN  - 2050-2974
ER  -