Bullying and Anxiety in Children: What the Research Says

The relationship between bullying and
anxiety in children is one of the
most well-documented in bullying research —
and one of the most important for
parents to understand. Research consistently
finds that bullying is a significant
cause of childhood anxiety — and that
anxiety, in turn, can increase a child’s
vulnerability to bullying. Understanding
this bidirectional relationship is
essential for helping effectively.

How Bullying Causes Anxiety

Research on bullying and anxiety —
including longitudinal work by Dieter
Wolke at the University of Warwick —
finds that bullying is one of the
strongest environmental predictors
of anxiety in childhood and adolescence.

Several mechanisms explain this relationship:

Threat learning. Research on
fear conditioning and bullying
finds that repeated exposure
to bullying — particularly unpredictable
bullying — produces genuine threat
learning: the child’s nervous
system learns that the school
environment is dangerous, producing
chronic physiological arousal
and hypervigilance that are
the hallmarks of anxiety.

Loss of felt safety. Research
on attachment and anxiety finds
that felt safety — the sense
that one’s environment is predictable
and manageable — is the foundation
of emotional security. Bullying
destroys felt safety at school —
and this loss of felt safety
produces anxiety.

Negative social cognitions.
Research on social cognition
and anxiety finds that bullying
produces specific negative beliefs —
“I am not likeable,” “peers
are dangerous,” “social situations
are threatening” — that maintain
anxiety long after the bullying
has stopped.

Anticipatory anxiety. Research
on bullying and school avoidance
finds that children who have
been bullied frequently develop
significant anticipatory anxiety —
fear of future bullying — that
produces avoidance of school
and social situations even
in the absence of current bullying.

How Anxiety Can Increase
Bullying Vulnerability

Research on bullying targets
and anxiety finds a complex bidirectional relationship:

Anxious children may display
behavioral signs that bullies target.
Research on bullying target
selection finds that children
who appear anxious — who react
visibly to provocation, who
show distress, who withdraw —
may be more likely to be targeted
by children who bully for reactions.

Anxiety reduces social confidence
and assertiveness. Research
finds that anxious children
show reduced social assertiveness —
making them less likely to
respond to bullying effectively
and more likely to continue
being targeted.

Social avoidance reduces protective
friendships. Research on friendship
and bullying finds that having
friends is one of the strongest
protective factors against bullying.
Anxiety-driven social avoidance
reduces the friendships that
protect against bullying.

What Bullying-Related Anxiety
Looks Like

Research on bullying and anxiety
presentations identifies several
characteristic signs:

School refusal or significant
reluctance to attend school —
one of the most common presentations.

Physical complaints — stomachaches,
headaches — particularly on
school mornings or before social situations.

Significant sleep difficulties —
difficulty falling asleep, nightmares
related to bullying situations.

Hypervigilance in social situations —
scanning for threat, difficulty
relaxing in peer contexts.

Avoidance of social activities
previously enjoyed.

Persistent worry about social
situations, peer evaluation,
and future bullying.

Significant decline in academic
performance — anxiety consuming
the cognitive resources that
learning requires.

What the Research Shows Helps

Addressing both the bullying
and the anxiety simultaneously.
Research on bullying-related
anxiety treatment finds that
addressing only the bullying —
without addressing the anxiety
it has produced — leaves children
with significant residual anxiety
even after bullying has stopped.
Both require attention.

Rebuilding felt safety. Research
on anxiety and felt safety finds
that the most important foundation
for recovery from bullying-related
anxiety is rebuilding felt safety —
the genuine experience that
school and social environments
are manageable and not primarily threatening.

This is built gradually —
through positive school experiences,
genuine friendships, competent
adult protection, and the consistent
presence of a calm, supportive parent.

Cognitive approaches to bullying-related
anxiety. Research on CBT for
bullying-related anxiety finds
that specifically targeting the
negative social cognitions that
bullying produces — “peers are
dangerous,” “I am unlikeable” —
with more accurate, balanced
beliefs significantly reduces
anxiety.

Age-appropriate cognitive approaches:
“Most children are not like
the ones who bullied you.”
“What happened to you was
about them — not about your worth.”
“You have people who genuinely
like and care about you.”

Graduated return to avoided
situations. Research on anxiety
and avoidance finds that avoidance
maintains anxiety over time —
and that gradual, supported
return to avoided situations
is essential for genuine anxiety reduction.

For school refusal related
to bullying:
Ensure the bullying situation
is genuinely being addressed
before expecting return.
Plan a gradual, supported return —
beginning with shorter school days or modified settings.
Maintain close communication
with school about the return plan.

Building genuine friendships.
Research on friendship and bullying-related
anxiety finds that one genuine
friendship — inside or outside
school — significantly reduces
both anxiety and bullying vulnerability.
Actively facilitating friendship
is one of the most important interventions.

Professional support for significant
anxiety. Research on treatment
for bullying-related anxiety
finds that when anxiety is
significant — when it is significantly
impairing school attendance,
friendships, or daily functioning —
professional support is important.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
adapted for bullying-related
anxiety produces significant
and lasting improvements.

Try This This Week

Practice 1 — The Safety Rebuilding Practice
What it is: A deliberate daily
investment in rebuilding felt
safety — the foundation of
recovery from bullying-related anxiety.

How to do it: Once each day —
find a genuine moment to communicate
safety and support:

“I want you to know — I
am watching out for you.”
“The situation at school is
being addressed — you are not alone in this.”
“You are safe at home —
and we are working on making school safer.”

Back it up with genuine action —
following through on school communication.

Why it works: Research on
felt safety and anxiety recovery
consistently finds that the
genuine experience of being
protected — by a competent,
caring adult who is actively
addressing the situation —
significantly reduces the anxiety
that bullying produces.

Practice 2 — The Positive Social Experience
What it is: A deliberate weekly
facilitation of one positive
social experience — rebuilding
positive social cognitions and
genuine friendship.

How to do it: This week arrange
one positive social experience
outside the bullying context:

A playdate or activity with
a child your child feels positive toward.
A group activity based on
genuine interest.
Any context where positive
peer interaction is likely.

Why it works: Research on
social cognition and bullying-related
anxiety finds that positive
social experiences — particularly
genuine friendship — directly
contradict the negative social
beliefs that bullying produces,
significantly reducing social
anxiety over time.

Practice 3 — The Professional Assessment Step
What it is: A concrete commitment
to seeking professional assessment
if bullying-related anxiety is
significantly impairing functioning.

How to do it: If your child’s
anxiety is significantly affecting
school attendance, friendships,
or daily life — this week take one step:

Talk to your pediatrician
about what you are observing.
Ask for a referral to a child
psychologist specializing in anxiety.
Contact your child’s school
counselor about additional support.

One step. This week.

Why it matters: Research on
bullying-related anxiety and
treatment outcomes consistently
finds that earlier professional
intervention produces significantly
better outcomes — and that waiting
for anxiety to resolve on its
own frequently allows it to
become more entrenched.

The Bottom Line

Bullying and anxiety are deeply
connected — bullying causes
anxiety, and anxiety can increase
bullying vulnerability. Understanding
this bidirectional relationship
is the foundation of effective response.

The research is clear: both
the bullying and the anxiety
require attention; rebuilding
felt safety is the foundation
of recovery; cognitive approaches
address the negative beliefs
bullying produces; gradual
return to avoided situations
reduces avoidance-maintained
anxiety; genuine friendship
is one of the most powerful
protective factors; and professional
support is important when anxiety
is significantly impairing functioning.

Sources

Wolke, D., & Lereya, S. T.
(2015). Long-term effects of bullying.
Archives of Disease in Childhood,
100(9), 879–885.

Espelage, D. L., & Swearer, S. M.
(2003). Research on school bullying
and victimization.
School Psychology Review,
32(3), 365–383.

Kendall, P. C., & Hedtke, K. A.
(2006). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
for Anxious Children.
Workbook Publishing.

Olweus, D. (1993).
Bullying at School. Blackwell.