Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr;38(4):752-760.
doi: 10.1111/jdv.19683. Epub 2023 Dec 7.

Bullying in persons with skin diseases

P V Chernyshov  1 , L Tomas-Aragones  2 , L Manolache  3 , N Pustisek  4 , R Darlenski  5   6 , S E Marron  7 , D Koumaki  8 , T V Pochynok  9 , J С Szepietowski  10 , K Wala-Zielinska  10 , E Wójcik  10 , M Szepietowska  10 , B Lisicki  10 , I G Tsidylo  11 , A V Chernyshov  12 , F Poot  13 , P Magin  14
Affiliations

Bullying in persons with skin diseases

P V Chernyshov et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Background: There are few studies on bullying in skin diseases. Persons with skin diseases are especially prone to bullying.

Objectives: This component of the project 'Bullying among Dermatologic Patients' aimed to study the prevalence and nature of bullying in patients with skin diseases from different countries and age groups.

Methods: Data were collected from participants of international social media groups for patients with skin diseases, in-patients and out-patients with skin diseases, and parents of children with skin diseases from six European countries. School and university students from Poland and Ukraine were asked to answer the question: Have you been bullied because of skin problems?

Results: Bullying was reported in 1016 patients with 36 different skin diseases. Prevalence of self-reported and parental-reported bullying was quite heterogeneous among different countries In total, self-reported bullying was noted by 25.6% of patients with skin diseases during face-to-face consultations, by 63.7% of respondents from international patients' groups and by 12.2% of school and university students. Parental-reported bullying was detected in 34.5% of 3-4 years old children with skin diseases. The peak of bullying prevalence occurred between the ages of 13 and 15. The most prevalent forms of bullying were verbal abuse and social isolation. Physical abuse was the least often reported form of bullying. Only 33.2% of participants talked to anyone about being bullied. Negative long-term effects of bullying were reported by 63% of respondents.

Conclusions: Skin disease-related bullying was reported by patients in all centres of the project. The main manifestations of bullying were similar in different countries and among patients with different skin diseases. International activities aimed to decrease or prevent skin disease-related bullying in different age groups are needed. These activities should be multidirectional and target teachers, parents of classmates and classmates of children with skin diseases, patients' parents and patients themselves.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Hayoun‐Vigouroux M, Misery L. Dermatological conditions inducing acute and chronic pain. Acta Derm Venereol. 2022;102:adv00742.
    1. Misery L, Belloni Fortina A, El Hachem M, Chernyshov P, von Kobyletzki L, Heratizadeh A, et al. A position paper on the management of itch and pain in atopic dermatitis from the International Society of Atopic Dermatitis (ISAD)/Oriented Patient‐Education Network in Dermatology (OPENED) task force. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2021;35:787–796.
    1. Brun J, Chiaverini C, Devos C, Leclerc‐Mercier S, Mazereeuw J, Bourrat E, et al. Pain and quality of life evaluation in patients with localized epidermolysis bullosa simplex. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2017;12:119.
    1. Dalgard FJ, Gieler U, Tomas‐Aragones L, Lien L, Poot F, Jemec GBE, et al. The psychological burden of skin diseases: a cross‐sectional multicenter study among dermatological out‐patients in 13 European countries. J Invest Dermatol. 2015;135:984–991.
    1. Chernyshov PV, Sampogna F, Zouboulis CC, Boffa MJ, Marron SE, Manolache L, et al. Which health‐related quality of life items most affect acne patients? Dermatology. 2023;239:267–272.

LinkOut - more resources