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There is significant research into childhood bullying and associated psychosocial difficulties in childhood. In contrast, research into the impact of childhood bullying in adulthood is sparse and predominantly quantitative. This study addresses this gap by exploring the lived experience of adults who were bullied as children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Participants were six women and two men, aged between 27 and 57 years of age, who experienced bullying during their childhood and adolescent years. Four superordinate themes emerged from the interviews: "The impact on the self', "Interpersonal relationships", "The struggle for control, power and autonomy" and "Making sense of childhood bullying experiences in adulthood". This study's findings have been placed in wider context to existing literature. This study has also adopted an integrative theoretical framework for the interpretation of the findings in order to understand the mechanisms and processes involved in the experiences reported by participants. Therefore, suggestions can be made for psychological interventions and therapeutic exploration in clinical work with adult clients who experienced childhood bullying. The theoretical approaches used were developmental life span, humanistic, psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioural. Clinical implications, such as control relating to coping strategies and the potential for post-traumatic stress in adults who experienced childhood bullying, are also explored. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The field of traumatic stress recognises that the impact of traumatic events can extend beyond those immediately exposed. However, in the past decade, research has been dominated by Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with less focus on how the greater majority, who do not develop PTSD, accommodate traumatic experiences into their lives. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has approximately 4,800 diplomat officers serving in 170 countries. Officers may be exposed to a disaster while on a short-term posting overseas, i.e. of two to four years duration. Adopting Charmaz's (1990) social constructivist approach to grounded theory, this qualitative study aims to explore how a disaster event is experienced from the perspective of the spouses of these British diplomats. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten participants. The analysis led to a theory, captured in an emergent model, of the temporal pathway of the lived experience of a disaster event for the spouses of British diplomats. It can be described as follows: Locating Multiple Self-Aspects at the Point of Disaster; Encountering Disaster; Immersion; Dissonance; Consequences; Disaster Endures. The core category - Incorporating Disaster into the Self-Concept- occurred in each phase of the model. The results may be helpful for both clinicians and policy makers working with this population. 23