DOVER — Dr. Charles Cange, an associate professor of sociology at Delaware State University, has been awarded two National Institutes of Health grants, totaling $468,000, to study the long-term effects of bullying on gay young men and methods to alleviate their pain.

Specifically, the research will ask whether men subjected to aggressive behavior during adolescence exhibit higher rates of psychological health issues like PTSD and higher rates of sexually transmitted infections.

Defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a public health problem, bullying can take many forms, from intermittent teasing to physical violence. The current generation of young gay men may also have been exposed to cyberbullying.

To adequately examine individuals’ experiences with bullying, this study will use survey methods in combination with longer one-on-one interviews.

In a summary of his research, Dr. Cange wrote that traumatic symptoms related to more extreme homophobic bullying may lead to men experiencing greater PTSD symptoms, as well as poorer sexual health. If these hypotheses are supported, he concluded, it would point to the need for a bullying-specific intervention that builds an individual’s resilience.