Being excluded, rejected, and victimized by peers can have long - term negative consequences for young children.1 In particular, the
experience of chronic peer victimization in
early childhood can promote the later development of anxiety and depression.14 Unfortunately, not only are anxious and depressive children more prone to
experience problematic peer relations, they also
appear to be particularly vulnerable to the negative impact of these
experiences.28, 29,30 For example, Gazelle and Ladd31 found that kindergarten children displaying
early signs of anxiety who were also excluded by peers were more likely to remain anxious and develop depressive symptoms through the 4th grade.
Several studies have reported that
early trauma, and especially
childhood sexual abuse, specifically increases the risk of later hallucinations in both schizophrenia and bipolar patients.69 — 73 On the other hand, insecure attachment
appears to be specifically associated with paranoia and not hallucinations.45, 46 Evidence that discrimination or victimization plays a specific role in the development of paranoid beliefs has emerged from a population survey in the United States and Mexico, 39 from a prospective population - based study in Holland, 32 and from patients» retrospective reports of their
experiences of intrusive74, 75 and threatening76 life events (as noted above, this effect may contribute to the elevated rates of psychosis in immigrant populations).