Of every 100 university students who suffer bullying in Yucatán, 44 present temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), that is, pain or functional problems of the jaws, report researchers from this state of Mexico.
TMD is a group of more than 30 conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and the muscles that control its movement, says the US National Institute of Health (NIH).
According to the NIH, the main symptoms of TMD are the following:
Pain in the chewing muscles or jaw joint (most common symptom); pain that spreads to the face or neck; jaw stiffness; and limited movement or locking of the jaw. Symptoms also include painful clicking, popping, or grinding in the jaw joint when opening or closing the mouth; ringing in the ears; hearing loss or dizziness; and change in the way the upper and lower teeth fit together.
Julio Vega Cauich and Ana Gutiérrez Solís, from the Regional High Specialty Hospital of the Yucatán Peninsula and the Faculty of Education, Autonomous University of Yucatán, respectively, investigated the role of anxiety in the relationship between bullying victimization and TMD among young adults.
To do this, they measured anxiety, bullying victimization, and TMD in 578 students aged 18 to 25 years from Yucatán.
Their study, whose results were published in 2022, showed that 14.2% of students identified themselves as victims of bullying, and 43.7% reported having some type of TMD.
They also found that anxiety is a main mediator between bullying and TMD in university students in Yucatán.
People who are bullied at school can develop stress-related health disorders, such as anxiety and TMD, both researchers say.
Because bullying can increase or trigger stress and anxiety, people who experience bullying are prone to developing TMD.
The results of this research become relevant on November 7, International Day against School Violence and Bullying, including Cyberbullying, when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) invites us to promote environments of safe learning, essential for the health, well-being, and learning of children and young people.
In 2020, on the first World Day against Bullying, UNESCO reported that more than 30% of students in the world have been victims of bullying, something that has dire consequences in terms of school performance, school dropouts, and physical and mental health. In the second year of this commemoration, Mexico signed the Declaration for the Prevention of Violence and Bullying at School, Including Cyberbullying, with UNESCO.
TYT Newsroom
