Cohabitation, Education, and Occupation of Psychiatric Outpatients Bullied as Children

Few studies have explored adult psychiatric outpatients who were bullied in childhood. The aim of this study was to contrast social-demographic variables of adult psychiatric outpatients who reported bullying in childhood with those without such reports. One hundred sixty consecutive adult patients from a psychiatric outpatient clinic completed self-administered questionnaires about cohabitation status, level of education, work status, and occupation. Bullying was measured by an inventory used in schools. The results showed that psychiatric outpatients bullied in childhood were more often singles, had significantly lower levels of education, often received social benefits, and worked as shop assistants rather than as engineers and schoolteachers. Those bullied in childhood showed poorer psychosocial adjustment as adults.