A prospective study examined the relationship between bullying and emotional problems in young teenagers. The study involved 2680 students surveyed in year 8 (aged 13) and year 9 in Victoria, Australia. The main outcome was self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, assessed using a computerized version of the revised clinical interview schedule. The study found that recurrent bullying in year 8 was significantly associated with the onset of anxiety or depression in year 9, particularly for girls. After adjusting for social and demographic factors, recurrent victimisation remained a predictor of self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in girls but not in boys. Newly reported victimisation in year 9 was not significantly associated with prior symptoms of anxiety or depression. The study concluded that a history of victimisation and poor social relationships predict the onset of emotional problems in adolescents. Previous recurrent emotional problems are not significantly related to future victimisation. These findings have implications for how seriously the occurrence of victimisation is treated and for the focus of interventions aimed at addressing mental health issues in adolescents. The study also found that the prevalence of victimisation was high and relatively stable, with two-thirds of students who were bullied in year 8 also reporting being bullied in year 9. The study confirmed the strong contemporaneous association between victimisation and self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression. It also found a strong association with social relationships, which has been less well documented in the adolescent age group. The study found that a history of victimisation is a strong predictor of the onset of self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression and remains so after adjustment for other measures of social relations. The contrary hypothesis that having poor emotional health in some way invites victimisation or represents a vicious cycle has not been supported by these data. The study found that the prevalence of self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in young secondary school students was 16%, with sex differences in the prevalence. In up to 30% of all students with incident symptoms of depression, the symptoms could be attributed to a history of victimisation, after adjustment for other confounders. The study suggests that a reduction in bullying in schools could have a substantial impact on the emotional wellbeing of young people, especially for girls. The study's strengths include its prospective design, the use of two time points to define a baseline of recurrent victimisation and self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, the inclusion of both overt and covert or relational types of victimisation, and a comprehensive measure of mental health status. The study also found that the impact of victimisation on incident self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in this population is potentially great.A prospective study examined the relationship between bullying and emotional problems in young teenagers. The study involved 2680 students surveyed in year 8 (aged 13) and year 9 in Victoria, Australia. The main outcome was self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, assessed using a computerized version of the revised clinical interview schedule. The study found that recurrent bullying in year 8 was significantly associated with the onset of anxiety or depression in year 9, particularly for girls. After adjusting for social and demographic factors, recurrent victimisation remained a predictor of self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in girls but not in boys. Newly reported victimisation in year 9 was not significantly associated with prior symptoms of anxiety or depression. The study concluded that a history of victimisation and poor social relationships predict the onset of emotional problems in adolescents. Previous recurrent emotional problems are not significantly related to future victimisation. These findings have implications for how seriously the occurrence of victimisation is treated and for the focus of interventions aimed at addressing mental health issues in adolescents. The study also found that the prevalence of victimisation was high and relatively stable, with two-thirds of students who were bullied in year 8 also reporting being bullied in year 9. The study confirmed the strong contemporaneous association between victimisation and self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression. It also found a strong association with social relationships, which has been less well documented in the adolescent age group. The study found that a history of victimisation is a strong predictor of the onset of self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression and remains so after adjustment for other measures of social relations. The contrary hypothesis that having poor emotional health in some way invites victimisation or represents a vicious cycle has not been supported by these data. The study found that the prevalence of self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in young secondary school students was 16%, with sex differences in the prevalence. In up to 30% of all students with incident symptoms of depression, the symptoms could be attributed to a history of victimisation, after adjustment for other confounders. The study suggests that a reduction in bullying in schools could have a substantial impact on the emotional wellbeing of young people, especially for girls. The study's strengths include its prospective design, the use of two time points to define a baseline of recurrent victimisation and self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, the inclusion of both overt and covert or relational types of victimisation, and a comprehensive measure of mental health status. The study also found that the impact of victimisation on incident self-reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in this population is potentially great.