Cyberbullying — bullying online rather than face to face — is linked to various types of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, both for victims and perpetrators, suggests new research.

Their findings prompt the researchers to suggest that asking about cyberbullying should become a routine part of any children’s mental health or psychological assessment.

The prevalence of cyberbullying among teens is thought to be between 10% and 40% and to pose specific risks because it can be done day and night, in various contexts, is rapid, anonymous, and reaches a wide audience, say the researchers.

It has been suggested that there may be some overlap between traditional bullying and cyberbullying.

To explore this further, and find out what the mental health impact of cyberbullying might be, the researchers questioned 2218 pupils aged between 11 and 19 from four secondary schools in London about their experiences of bullying.

They used The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire to find out what type of bullying the teens had been involved with, how often this had happened, and for how long it had lasted.

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