Young people who have been bullied on an ongoing basis for at least two school years are significantly more likely to think about or attempt suicide than their peers, a new study has found.

Canadian researchers monitored the progress of 1,168 children who were born in the 1990s, until they were 15 years of age. They assessed any links between victimisation and suicidal ideation or attempts.

The study found that around 20% of the young people had been victimised by their peers. This included being called names, having rumours spread about them, being excluded on purpose, being physically attacked and cyberbullying.

The researchers found much higher rates of suicidal ideation among the victimised young people at the ages of 13 and 15. Over 11% of 13-year-olds who had been victimised reported thinking about suicide compared to just 2% of those who had not been victimised.

Furthermore, almost 15% of 15-year-olds who had ben victimised had thought about suicide compared to 4% who had not been victimised.

When it came to actual suicide attempts, 5.4% of victimised 13-year-olds had attempted suicide compared to 1.6% of their non-victimised peers. Meanwhile, almost 7% of victimised 15-year-olds had attempted suicide compared to 1.9% of their non-victimised peers.

The researchers said that overall, 15-year-olds who have been chronically bullied over a two-year period are around five times more likely to think about suicide and are six times more likely to actually attempt suicide compared to their non-bullied peers.

At the age of 13, bullied teens are two times more likely to consider suicide and three times more likely to attempt it.

The researchers emphasised that adolescence is a key period for suicide prevention and effective interventions during this period should involve parents, teachers, principals and mental health professionals.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.