Evaluation of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder or diabetes and their healthy peers suggests children with the psychiatric disorder may be at far higher risk for bullying than healthy children or those with chronic physical illness, according to an article in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent
Psychology.

"One of the things we have noticed working with many kids with obsessive-compulsive disorder is that peer relations are extremely impaired," said Eric Storch, PhD, the lead author of the study. "Kids target kids who are different. Kids with obsessive-compulsive disorder sometimes exhibit behaviors that peers simply don't understand."

The American researchers evaluated 52 children with the disorder, 52 with type 1 diabetes, and 52 age-matched healthy peers. Evaluation included self- and parent reports, as well as evaluation by a trained clinician.

More than one quarter of the children with obsessive-compulsive disorder reported chronic bullying as a problem. By comparison, only 9 percent of children in the two other groups reported serious problems with bullies.

Not only were the children with the disorder three times more likely to be bullied, but there were indications that bullying causes their symptoms to worsen. Furthermore, there were apparent correlations between bullying and loneliness and depression.

In the current research, chronic bullying implied roughly one episode per day, ranging from kicking or hitting to name-calling or excluding children from activities in school.

"The kids with the disorder are really experiencing higher rates of peer problems than other kids," Storch said. "We're not saying one causes the other, but there is a positive relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder and bullying.”

The authors recommend that clinicians and parents help children learn how to handle aggressive peers, either at home or by finding a counselor who can help them develop social skills. Parents should also take their concerns to their child's school if teachers or administrators are not stopping the bullying before it becomes a problem.

"Bullying is one of the largest challenges children, with obsessive-compulsive disorder and in general, have to face," Storch said. "One of the main clinical implications is considering the child as an entire person, one who has obsessive-compulsive disorder but who also has other impairments."