Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Author Spotlight: Understanding Adolescent Social Adversity Effects on Neurodevelopment in Mice
Published on: March 15, 2024
Associations between past bullying experiences and psychosocial and academic functioning among college students
Melissa K Holt1, Jennifer Greif Green, Gerald Reid
1a Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Development, School of Education , Boston University , Boston , Massachusetts.
Objectives:
This study examined whether childhood bullying victimization was associated with psychosocial and academic functioning at college.
Participants:
The sample consisted of 413 first-year students from a large northeastern university.
Methods:
Students completed an online survey in February 2012 that included items assessing past bullying involvement, current psychosocial and academic functioning, and victimization experiences since arriving at college.
Results:
Regression analyses indicated that reports of past bullying and other peer victimization were associated with lower mental health functioning and perceptions of physical and mental health, but were not associated with perceptions of social life at college, overall college experience, or academic performance.
Conclusions:
Childhood bullying victimization is associated with poorer mental and physical health among first-year college students. Colleges should consider assessing histories of bullying victimization, along with other past victimization exposures, in their service provision to students.
Related Concept Videos
Bullying
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
Social Facilitation
Sources of Self-Esteem III: Social Comparison
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other

