Dynamics of Peer Victimization in Early Adolescence

ABSTRACT

This study addressed the stability of victimization across four consecutive years from Grades 4 to 7, and the concurrent correlates, short-term consequences, and predictors of victimization in early adolescence. Participants were 600 students (49% girls) enrolled in 10 elementary schools in Grades 4-5 and 2 middle schools in Grades 6-7 in an ethnically diverse school system. Data collection included peer nominations, self-reports, and teacher reports in each year. Victimization was highly stable across all years, including the transition from elementary to middle school. Both concurrent and short-term consequences showed that victimized 6th graders, especially girls, experienced significantly greater maladaptive outcomes than their nonvictim counterparts. For both genders, risk factors for adolescent victimization included externalizing and internalizing behaviors, while protective factors included academic and peer sociability elements. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.     

Peer Victimization in School: Exploring the Ethnic Context

ABSTRACT— This article provides an overview of recent research on peer victimization in school that highlights the role of the ethnic context—specifically, classrooms' and schools' ethnic composition. Two important findings emerge from this research. First, greater ethnic diversity in classrooms and schools reduces students' feelings of victimization and vulnerability, because there is more balance of power among different ethnic groups. Second, in nondiverse classrooms where one ethnic group enjoys a numerical majority, victimized students who are members of the ethnic group that is in the majority may be particularly vulnerable to self-blaming attributions. The usefulness of attribution theory as a conceptual framework and ethnicity as a context variable in studies of peer victimization are discussed.     

Peer Victimization, Aggression, and Their Co-Occurrence in Middle School: Pathways to Adjustment Problems

An ethnically diverse sample of 6th-grade students completed peer nomination procedures that were used to create subgroups of students with reputations as victims, aggressors, aggressive victims, and socially adjusted (neither aggressive nor victimized). Self-report data on psychological adjustment, attributions for peer harassment, and perceived school climate were gathered. In addition, homeroom teachers rated participating students on academic engagement and students' grades were collected from school records. Victims reported the most negative self-views, aggressors enjoyed the most positive self-views, and aggressive victims fell between these two groups, although their psychological profile more closely resembled that of victims. However, all three subgroups encountered more school adjustment problems when compared to their socially adjusted classmates. Different pathways to school adjustment problems for aggressors and victims were examined. For victims, characterological self-blame for victimization and psychological maladjustment were the key mediators, whereas for aggressors, the significant pathway was mainly through perceived unfairness of school rules. Analyses by ethnicity revealed that African American boys were most likely to be perceived as aggressive and as aggressive victims and they were doing most poorly in school. Implications for intervention with subgroups of problem behavior youth and the particular vulnerabilities of African American adolescents were discussed.     

改变初中生吸烟态度的同伴教育干预研究

目的:检验同伴教育干预实验是否能改变初中生的吸烟态度。方法:通过KAP问卷对实验组和对照组吸烟初中生收集量化数据,评价干预效果。结果:⑴同质同伴教育者在吸烟知识、态度和行为上有明显变化(后测结果显示三组被试在知识、态度和行为上的Z值分别为:9.036、8.278、7.206,P<0.05);⑵实验组比对照组在吸烟知识、态度和行为上有显著提高(同质组与比照组在知识、态度和行为上的Z值分别为:-2.400、-2.206、-2.123,P<0.05;异质组与比照组在知识、态度和行为上的Z值分别为:-2.400、-2.300、-2.430,P<0.05);⑶同质与异质实验组在吸烟知识、态度和行为上有显著提高(同质组前后测在知识、态度和行为上的Z值分别为:-2.919、-2.371、-2.437,P<0.05;异质组前后测在知识、态度和行为上的Z值分别为:2.890、-2.091、-2.419,P<0.05);[4]同质与异质同伴组的比较没有差异。结论:同伴教育干预方法可以在一定程度上改变初中生的吸烟态度,同质团体与异质团体在同伴教育干预中不存在差异。     

Transitioning Out of Peer Victimization in School Children: Gender and Behavioral Characteristics

The present study investigated the characteristics of children who remain consistently peer victimized in comparison to those who transition out of victimization status. The relationships between victimization and the victim's level of overt aggression, relational aggression, impulsivity, and prosocial behaviors were examined from one year to the next. At Time 1, 1589 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade children were administered a peer nomination instrument assessing victimization and standard sociometric variables. At Time 2 (1 year later), 1619 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade children were administered the same measure. A mixed-design repeated measures MANOVA was conducted for boys and girls separately. Results indicated that in comparison to victims transitioning out of victimization status, consistently victimized boys were lower in prosocial behavior, and consistently victimized girls were higher in impulsivity. Results for girls also indicated that a reduction in victim's own level of relational aggression was associated with cessation of victimization.     

Links Between Early Personal Characteristics,Longitudinal Profiles of Peer Victimization in School and Victimization in College or at Work

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - This study used a longitudinal design from age six through age 19 (N?=?1206 (603 girls)) to examine the associations between...     

Aggressive Behavior and Peer Social Status of Elementary School Children

The relation between aggression and peer social status was investigated in a group of 238 third-through fifth-grade children. Peer social status refers to the degree to which a child is accepted by his or her peer group. By asking children to nominate peers they “like most” and “like least,” one can identify children who are popular, rejected, neglected, or viewed as average within their peer group. Results indicated low to moderate correlations between peer-nominated aggression and global indices of social acceptance. More specifically, it was found that aggressive children largely comprised the rejected and average social status groups, but not the popular or neglected groups. Furthermore, analyses indicated that according to both peers and teachers, aggressive/rejected children showed academic and social-skill deficits, whereas aggressive children of average peer status exhibited adequate adjustment similar to that of nonaggressive/average-status children. These results suggest the importance of considering peer social status when identifying aggressive children in need of intervention and in determining which skill deficits to address. In addition, knowledge of an aggressive child's peer status might be useful in enhancing the predictability of adult adjustment.     

Peer Victimization during Middle Childhood as a Marker of Attenuated Risk for Adult Arrest

This longitudinal investigation examined interactions between aggression and peer victimization during middle childhood in the prediction of arrest through the adult years for 388 (198 boys, 190 girls) study participants. As part of an ongoing multisite study (i.e., Child Development Project), peer victimization and aggression were assessed via a peer nomination inventory in middle childhood, and juvenile and adult arrest histories were assessed via a self-report questionnaire as well as review of court records. Early aggression was linked to later arrest but only for those youths who were rarely victimized by peers. Although past investigators have viewed youths who are both aggressive and victimized as a high-risk subgroup, our findings suggest that the psychological and behavioral attributes of these children may mitigate trajectories toward antisocial problems.     

Peer Victimization and Parental Psychological Control in Adolescence

With a sample of 831 U.S. adolescents (49% girls) followed from 9th to 11th grade, the directionality of the association between school-based peer victimization and adolescents’ perception of their parents’ psychological control were examined. Possible mediating influences of internalizing symptoms were also explored. The results highlight the relevance of adolescent-to-parent influences during adolescence by demonstrating that physical peer victimization was predictive of increases in mother’s psychological control but parental psychological control did not predict subsequent peer victimization. These direct effects were present above and beyond the contribution of adolescent internalizing symptoms to higher parental psychological control. Practical implications of the primacy of adolescent-to-parent influences in predicting the social adjustment of victims of peer harassment are discussed.     

Students with Exceptionalities and the Peer Group Context of Bullying and Victimization in Late Elementary School

We examined bullying and victimization in 5th grade classrooms in relation to students’ education status and peer group membership. The sample consisted of 484 participants (258 girls, 226 boys), including 369 general education students, 74 academically gifted students, and 41 students with mild disabilities. Students with mild disabilities were more likely to be perceived as being bullies by both teachers and peers. Teachers also rated students with mild disabilities significantly higher for being bullied by peers. Academically gifted students were rated by teachers as the lowest for both bullying and being bullied. Associating with aggressive or perceived-popular peers increased the likelihood of being perceived as a bully. Social isolates were more likely to be bullied than students who did not associate with perceived-popular peers who, in turn, were more likely to be bullied than students who associated with perceived-popular peers. Students with mild disabilities who had aggressive and perceived-popular associates had more peer nominations for bullying than all others. In contrast, students in general education with neither aggressive nor perceived-popular associates had the fewest peer nominations for bullying. We discuss implications for research and intervention.     

童年中晚期同伴侵害与情绪适应:归因的中介作用

以929名8-12岁儿童为被试,运用多维同伴侵害量表、儿童社交焦虑量表、儿童孤独量表和同伴侵害归因量表进行测量,考察归因在童年中晚期同伴侵害与情绪适应关系间的中介作用。结果表明:(1)童年中晚期同伴侵害归因包括互不喜欢、自身不足和同伴嫉妒三个维度;(2)身体侵害、关系侵害对社交焦虑的直接预测作用不显著,但通过互不喜欢的中介影响社交焦虑;(3)身体侵害对孤独的直接预测作用不显著,但通过互不喜欢的中介影响孤独,关系侵害对孤独的直接正向预测作用显著,同时通过三种归因方式的中介影响孤独。结论:童年中晚期同伴侵害归因包括互不喜欢、自身不足和同伴嫉妒三个维度,归因的中介作用模式因同伴侵害、情绪适应类型的不同而存在差异,同伴嫉妒的归因方式能够减少关系侵害后儿童的孤独情绪。     

Functions of Aggression and Peer Victimization in Elementary School Children: the Mediating Role of Social Preference

This study examined whether social preference was a mechanism that explained the relation between proactive and reactive aggression and peer victimization. Participants were 494 children in grades 2–5. Proactive and reactive aggression was assessed via a self-report measure and indices of social preference and peer victimization were assessed via a peer nomination inventory. Data was collected during the fall and spring of two academic years. The relations among aggression, social preference, and peer victimization varied as a function of aggression and gender. For girls, reactive aggression was a significant negative predictor of social preference. Findings also revealed social preference mediated the relation between reactive aggression and peer victimization for girls. This pathway did not hold for boys. There was some evidence that proactive aggression was negatively associated with peer victimization, but only for girls. Findings from the current study suggest social preference may be a key mechanism through which reactive aggression is associated with future victimization for girls. Boys’ aggression was not related to subsequent peer victimization. Future research and intervention efforts should consider gender differences and the function of aggression when investigating children’s peer victimization experiences.     

Peer Status in the Middle School: A Natural Treatment for Unequal Participation

The focus of this study is on the problem of unequal participation of students within small cooperative learning groups in middle-school classrooms. According to previous research using Status Characteristic Theory, this unequal participation stems from differential expectations for competence based on academic and peer status. Previous research had also found that in classrooms where rank on these two status orders was uncorrelated (incongruent classrooms), problems of unequal participation were less severe. This study involved systematic observations of students in working groups in four middle-school science classrooms. The derivation of hypotheses required an extension of Status Characteristic Theory to handle three-to-five-person groups working in a multicharacteristic situation. The results showed good support for hypotheses explaining the effect of incongruence in the social structure on participation of low-status students. Incongruent classrooms had fewer small groups that were highly differentiated on status. Moreover, the degree of status differentiation in the groups was a direct predictor of the participation rates of the low-status students. Thus, the less differentiated groups in incongruent classrooms showed fewer status problems. As a practical matter, the tendency of students to construct peer status orders that are independent of academic status acts as a natural treatment for unequal participation.     

Peer Victimization and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Depressed Adolescents

Suicide is a leading cause of death among youth worldwide, and depressed adolescents are at a significantly elevated risk to report suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts. Peer victimization is a robust predictor of adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), but little research has focused on why bullying leads to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. To address this empirical gap, we recruited 340 (246 female) depressed adolescents ages 13–19 (M = 15.59, SD = 1.41) within 48 h of admission for acute psychiatric treatment. At the initial assessment, participants were administered clinical interviews characterizing psychopathology, nonsuicidal self-injury, and STBs (ideation, plans, and attempts). Further, they completed questionnaires assessing 3 forms of victimization (overt, relational, and reputational), recent risky behavior engagement, and psychiatric symptom severity. Controlling for internalizing symptoms and age, overt and reputational bullying were associated with more frequent past month suicide attempts, but not suicide ideation. Past month risky behavior engagement, but not NSSI, mediated the relation between victimization and attempts. However, sex differences revealed that this effect only held for males whereas bullying was directly associated with suicide attempts among females. In contrast, overt and relational bullying were non-linearly associated with suicide plans, and these relations were not mediated by risky behaviors or NSSI. Results highlight the complex network of factors that lead victimized adolescents to engage in STBs and may inform targeted suicide prevention and intervention programs.     

Developmental Trajectories of Victimization

ABSTRACT

Using a modified version of Olweus' victimization (Student Questionnaire, 1993) scale, 1,241 children in Grades 5 to 7 from diverse socioeconomic neighborhoods were classified into four distinct trajectories of victimization: non-victims, late onset victims, stable victims, and desisters. MANCOVAS investigated how changes in victimization across different trajectories corresponded to variations in intraand interpersonal functioning. Risk factors including anxiety and low friendship quality lead to subsequent victimization and these problems increased with continued victimization. Engaging in fewer aggressive behaviors, having high quality friendships, and experiencing low levels of anxiety were identified as factors that protect adolescents from future victimization. The discussion focuses on the possible mechanisms contributing to the maintenance or changes in levels of victimization, and how interventions can reduce peer victimization in schools.     

Bidirectional Associations between Peer Victimization and Functions of Aggression in Middle Childhood: Further Evaluation across Informants and Academic Years

The current 3-wave study examined bidirectional associations between peer victimization and functions of aggression across informants over a 1-year period in middle childhood, with attention to potential gender differences. Participants included 198 children (51% girls) in the third and fourth grades and their homeroom teachers. Peer victimization was assessed using both child- and teacher-reports, and teachers provided ratings of reactive and proactive aggression. Cross-classified multilevel cross-lagged models indicated that child-reports, but not teacher-reports, of peer victimization predicted higher levels of reactive aggression within and across academic years. Further, reactive aggression predicted subsequent increases in child- and teacher-reports of peer victimization across each wave of data. Several gender differences, particularly in the crossed paths between proactive aggression and peer victimization, also emerged. Whereas peer victimization was found to partially account for the stability of reactive aggression over time, reactive aggression did not account for the stability of peer victimization. Taken together with previous research, the current findings suggest that child-reports of peer victimization may help identify youth who are risk for exhibiting increased reactive aggression over time. Further, they highlight the need to target reactively aggressive behavior for the prevention of peer victimization in middle childhood.     

Peer Victimization and Substance Use in Early Adolescence: Influences of Deviant Peer Affiliation and Parental Knowledge

Being the target of peer victimization contributes to alcohol and cigarette use during early adolescence. This 1-year longitudinal study extended the current literature by investigating the potential links between peer victimization and alcohol and cigarette initiation among a sample of 723 youths recruited from three middle schools in Southern China. We proposed a moderated mediation model to examine whether peer victimization is indirectly related to substance use via deviant peer affiliation, and whether the strength of this mediation is moderated by the level of parental knowledge for both genders. All participants self-reported using questionnaires to assess peer victimization, deviant peer affiliation, parental knowledge, and substance use. The results revealed that peer victimization was indirectly associated with increased alcohol use via deviant peer affiliation for both genders. However, deviant peer affiliation mediated the impact of peer victimization on trying cigarettes for only boys. Moreover, parental knowledge acted as a protective role for increases in alcohol use for girls, but not for boys. These findings highlight the potential role of deviant peer affiliation to explain the relationship between peer victimization and substance use, and provide important implications for addressing the adverse consequences of peer victimization.