Recent findings have established a link between bullying and student's pain medication use.

According to the findings, in a school-based survey study of all students in grades 6, 8, and 10 in Iceland, the use of pain medications was significantly higher among bullied students even when controlling for the amount of pain they felt, as well as age, gender, and socioeconomic status.

As part of the study, which was published in Acta Paediatrica, a total of 10,390 students completed anonymous surveys and answered questions about bullying, pain, and pain medication use.

Bullied students tend to experience more pain than their non-bullied schoolmates, the study found. Bullied students were also twice as likely to use pain medication even when controlling for experienced pain.

"Interventions aimed at reducing bullying and promoting health in schools are important and might reduce the use of analgesics in adolescents," said corresponding author Dr Pernilla Garmy, of Kristianstad University, in Sweden.

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