According to a new study, children who are bullied in their childhood are up to three times more likely to self harm till the age of 12 years compared to those who have not been subject to such treatment.

The study conducted by the researchers working at King's College London showed that about a fourth of the children in the UK are bullied at some point during their school lives. The study included more than 1000 pairs of twins at
5, 7, 10 and 12 years of age.

The children in the study were all born in 1994-1995 in England and Wales and they were assessed on the risks of self-harming during the six months before their 12th birthday. They studied self-harm data of 2141 children in the study.

It was found that 18 out of the 237 children who were subject to frequent bullying, harmed themselves. On the other hand, 44 out of 1904 who had not been bullied had harmed themselves. The researchers noted that several factors like a family history of self-harming, maltreatment, behavioral and emotional problems increased the risk of self harm among bullied children.

The researchers expect that study to help identify the children who are at greatest risk of self-harm.