Intrasexual peer aggression and dating behavior during adolescence: an evolutionary perspective

It has been suggested that the use of intrasexual aggression is a form of competition associated with reproductive opportunities. Here the authors investigated the relationship between retrospective dating and flirting behavior and peer aggression and victimization during middle and high school. Results indicate that the use of peer aggression was associated with adaptive dating outcomes in both sexes, whereas experiencing peer victimization was correlated with maladaptive dating behaviors among females only. Females who perpetrated high levels of indirect (i.e. nonphysical) aggression reported that they began dating at earlier ages in comparison to their peers, whereas aggressive males reported having more total dating partners. Experiencing female-female peer victimization was correlated with a later onset of dating behavior, more total dating partners, and less male flirtation while growing up. This report strengthens the connection between adolescent peer aggression and reproductive competition, suggesting a potential functionality to adolescent peer aggression in enhancing one's own mating opportunities at the expense of rivals.     

青少年早期同伴拒绝、同伴侵害与抑郁的关系：交叉滞后分析

采用间隔1年的追踪设计,使用结构方程建模对1068名青少年早期个体的同伴拒绝、同伴侵害与抑郁间的关系进行交叉滞后分析。结果发现,（1）在不同时间点上,同伴拒绝、同伴侵害和青少年抑郁之间存在显著正相关;（2）先前的抑郁水平对随后个体遭受的身体侵害和关系侵害均有显著预测作用,而先前的同伴侵害不能显著预测随后青少年的抑郁水平。抑郁对同伴拒绝、以及同伴拒绝对抑郁的预测作用均不显著。（3）同伴拒绝、同伴侵害与抑郁间的关系具有跨性别的一致性。这表明,青少年早期同伴侵害和抑郁间存在单向预测关系,抑郁导致同伴侵害。     

童年晚期同伴关系不利与儿童的攻击行为:自我概念与同伴信念的中介作用

采用整群抽样法选取1806名小学儿童(平均年龄11.27±0.36岁)为被试,考察同伴拒绝、侵害两种同伴关系不利与儿童攻击行为间的关系、以及儿童的自我概念与同伴信念在其中的中介作用.结果发现,(1)同伴拒绝、侵害与儿童的身体攻击、关系攻击显著正相关,与儿童的自我概念、同伴信念显著负相关,自我概念、同伴信念与两类攻击显著相关.(2)同伴拒绝、关系侵害对身体攻击和关系攻击具有正向预测作用;身体侵害仅对身体攻击具有正向预测作用,对关系攻击无显著影响.(3)儿童的身体自我概念、社交自我概念及同伴信念在同伴拒绝、同伴侵害与攻击的联系中具有中介作用.本研究结果表明,同伴拒绝对儿童的身体攻击、关系攻击主要表现为直接效应,不同类型的侵害经历与儿童攻击间的联系存在类型特定性.     

Evolutionary perspective on indirect victimization in adolescence: the role of attractiveness, dating and sexual behavior

We studied indirect victimization from an evolutionary perspective by examining links between this type of victimization and several indicators of attractiveness (past sexual behavior, dating frequency and physical appearance). Two thousand three hundred and nineteen (56% female) students (ages 13-18) from a region of southern Ontario, Canada, completed self-report measures of indirect victimization, physical appearance, dating frequency, recent sexual behavior (number of partners in previous month) and past sexual behavior (number of lifetime partners minus number of partners in previous month) as well as indexes of depression, aggression and attachment security, which were used to control for psychosocial maladjustment. Consistent with an evolutionary framework, physical appearance interacted significantly with gender, wherein attractive females were at greater risk for indirect victimization, whereas for males physical attractiveness was a protective factor, reducing risk of victimization. Physical appearance also interacted with grade, being inversely related to indirect victimization for younger adolescents and having a nonsignificant association with victimization for older youth. Finally, recent sexual behavior was associated with increased risk of indirect victimization for older adolescents only, which we discussed with regard to peer perceptions of promiscuity and short-term mating strategies. These findings have important implications for the development of interventions designed to reduce peer victimization, in that victims of indirect aggression may represent a rather broad, heterogeneous group, including attractive individuals with no obvious signs of maladjustment.     

童年中晚期同伴侵害对儿童心理社会适应影响的纵向分析

采用间隔两年的纵向设计, 通过对1767名儿童的同伴侵害以及孤独、抑郁、攻击、行为不良、同伴接纳、同伴拒绝等心理社会适应指标进行调查, 综合运用变量定向的方法和个体定向的方法考察了童年中晚期儿童心理社会适应发展的结果模式, 以及同伴侵害对儿童心理社会适应发展的影响。结果发现, (1)身体侵害、关系侵害与心理社会适应各指标存在显著的即时与纵向相关关系。(2)儿童心理社会适应结果表现为内化问题、外化问题、同伴拒绝、正常发展4种模式。(3)判别分析显示, 9岁的同伴侵害(主要为身体侵害)能预测同伴拒绝、外化问题适应结果模式, 11岁的同伴侵害(主要为关系侵害)能预测内化问题、同伴拒绝适应结果模式。这些结果表明同伴侵害与儿童心理社会适应间的联系具有异质性, 并且先前和当前的侵害经历以及不同类型的侵害与心理社会适应间的联系因适应领域的不同而存在差异。     

Social Support as a School Victimisation Risk Factor

This study examined three sources of social support, peer groups, school and parents, and their impact on the risk of relational, verbal and physical bullying victimization in a representative sample of secondary school adolescents of Talavera de la Reina (Spain). Correlation analysis was used to establish associations and regression analysis in order to confirm the independent effect of each social support type with victimization. The results showed that low social support perception from peers, school and parents increased the risk of relational, verbal and physical bullying victimization. Additionally, the perception of lower parental social support increased the likelihood of relational and verbal bullying victimization, while the hypothesis that low perception of parental social support entailed a higher risk for physical victimization was not confirmed. These findings are discussed in light of previous studies.     

Psychological Dating Violence Perpetration and Victimization: Trajectories From Middle to High School

Despite evidence documenting the negative consequences, psychological dating violence occurs frequently in adolescent dating relationships. No information exists on the trajectories that adolescents follow and their association to nonphysical peer violence. The sample comprised 624 randomly selected 6th graders. In yearly surveys from 6th through 12th grade, 550 of the 624 students reported dating at least twice during the 3 months prior to completing the survey. These students responded to questions about frequency of engagement in psychological dating violence perpetration and victimization. We used Proc TRAJ to identify developmental trajectories of behavior over time and generalized estimating equation models to examine the associations of the trajectories and peer aggression. Adolescents followed three distinct developmental trajectories related to psychological dating violence victimization and perpetration: low, increasing, and high. Based on the joint probabilities of victimization and perpetration, we identified four predominant groups: low victimization/low perpetration (LVLP; 36%), increasing victimization/increasing perpetration (40%), high victimization/high perpetration (HVHP; 15%), and increasing victimization/low perpetration (IVLP; 7%). The LVLP had significantly more boys and White students; the HVHP group had an even gender distribution and more African‐American students. For all groups, peer aggression decreased from Grade 6 to 12; students in the HVHP group reported the highest peer aggression, and students in the LVLP reported the lowest peer aggression. Findings suggest a strong, reciprocal relationship in the developmental trajectories of adolescents who experience and perpetrate psychological dating violence. Those highly engaged in these behaviors were also more likely to be violent toward peers. Aggr. Behav. 38:510‐520, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fifth-Grade Children’s Daily Experiences of Peer Victimization and Negative Emotions: Moderating Effects of Sex and Peer Rejection

This study examined the relations of fifth-grade children’s (181 boys and girls) daily experiences of peer victimization with their daily negative emotions. Children completed daily reports of peer victimization and negative emotions (sadness, anger, embarrassment, and nervousness) on up to eight school days. The daily peer victimization checklist was best represented by five factors: physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, property attacks, and social rebuff. All five types were associated with increased negative daily emotions, and several types were independently linked to increased daily negative emotions, particularly physical victimization. Girls demonstrated greater emotional reactivity in sadness to social manipulation than did boys, and higher levels of peer rejection were linked to greater emotional reactivity to multiple types of victimization. Sex and peer rejection also interacted, such that greater rejection was a stronger indicator of emotional reactivity to victimization in boys than in girls.     

Self-Control and Risky Lifestyles in Context: Cross-Level Integration between Opportunity and Collective Efficacy in the Study of Peer Victimization among South Korean Youth

The study applies individual trait and opportunity perspectives at the individual-level factors associated with peer victimization among South Korean youth. The theoretical analysis integrates individual-level perspectives with community-level perspective. Data are derived from the Korean Youth Panel Survey, which provided information for a sample of 2844 adolescents, aged 11. Findings revealed significant effects of low self-control and risky lifestyles (delinquent peer associations and juvenile delinquency) on peer victimization. The results lend support for the application of self-control theory as well as lifestyles and routine activities theory to understand peer victimization of adolescents in South Korea. However, there was no independent effect of neighborhood collective efficacy on peer victimization, nor did neighborhood collective efficacy attenuate or condition the individual-level effects on peer victimization.     

童年晚期至青少年早期攻击和同伴侵害的关系:交叉滞后研究

采用整群抽样法抽取2178名小学生为被试（平均年龄11.05±0.69岁,男生1132人）自5年级追踪至8年级,通过纵向交叉滞后模型对攻击与同伴侵害间的关系进行考察。结果发现,各年级关系攻击均可预测之后的关系侵害,7年级身体攻击预测8年级身体侵害,此外6年级关系侵害经历对7年级关系攻击具有预测作用。攻击与同伴侵害间的纵向联系不存在性别差异。这些结果表明,童年晚期至青少年早期攻击与同伴侵害之间总体上符合连续性社交过程模型,即攻击对随后的同伴侵害具有更明显预测作用,但在小学升初中的学校过渡阶段关系侵害预测随后的关系攻击,部分支持两者间存在双向关系。该结果提示需关注儿童青少年的攻击与同伴侵害经历,采取措施避免其陷入攻击与同伴侵害间的恶性循环之中。     

流动儿童同伴侵害的特点及与内化问题的循环作用关系:一项追踪研究

本研究采用纵向设计,以北京市426名四、五年级流动儿童为被试,进行连续4次的追踪测查,考察流动儿童同伴侵害的特点及其与内化问题的动态相互作用关系。结果发现:(1)打工子弟学校流动儿童的同伴侵害与内化问题水平比公立学校流动儿童高;流动儿童的流动性越大,同伴侵害和内化问题越多。(2)控制了性别、年级、家庭社会经济地位(SES)和流动性后,从T1到T2,同伴侵害与孤独感为相互作用关系,且同伴侵害可以显著预测抑郁,但对社交焦虑的预测作用不显著,而从T2到T4,同伴侵害和3种内化问题的相互作用模式完全一致,即T2时的社交焦虑、抑郁和孤独感显著预测T3的同伴侵害,进而显著预测T4的社交焦虑、抑郁和孤独感。(3)抑郁、孤独感与同伴侵害的循环作用在两类流动儿童中具有较强的稳定性,而在社交焦虑和同伴侵害的模型中,打工子弟学校流动儿童的同伴侵害对社交焦虑的作用比公立学校流动儿童更大。可见,同伴侵害和内化问题呈循环作用关系,未来预防/干预研究可以聚焦于减少流动儿童的同伴侵害或内化问题的角度打破二者的恶性循环,帮助他们建立良好的人际关系,构建良性循环,促进他们的积极发展。     

儿童和青少年同伴侵害与攻击行为关系的三水平元分析

攻击行为在儿童和青少年的社会、情感和心理适应中发挥着重要作用, 而同伴侵害是儿童和青少年攻击行为一个重要的预测因素。先前的一些研究已经考察了儿童和青少年同伴侵害与攻击行为之间的关系, 但是尚不完全清楚调节效应对二者关系的影响。因此当前研究采用三水平元分析方法检验效应量的可靠性和一系列调节效应。在系统地搜索了2020年10月之前发表的文献后, 当前元分析确定了40项研究, 包括25605名被试, 共计333个效应量。主效应检验发现儿童和青少年的同伴侵害与攻击行为呈显著正相关。此外, 调节效应检验发现同伴侵害变量具有显著的调节作用。与身体侵害相比, 关系侵害与儿童和青少年攻击行为之间的相关更强。儿童和青少年的同伴侵害与攻击行为也受到了地区的调节, 它们之间的关系在亚洲地区比在南美洲地区更强。研究设计也是一个显著的调节变量, 儿童和青少年同伴侵害与攻击行为的相关在纵向研究中比在横向研究中更低。最后, 当前元分析的结果显示同伴侵害的报告者也是一个显著的调节变量。与同伴报告的同伴侵害相比, 教师报告的同伴侵害与儿童和青少年攻击行为之间的相关较高。当前研究的结果指出, 在预防、控制儿童和青少年的攻击行为时应该注意同伴侵害对其的影响。     

Peer Victimization and Depressive Symptoms: Role of Peers and Parent–Child Relationship

The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating role of parental and peer support and gender differences in the association between peer victimization forms and depressive symptoms. The sample included 261 youths (ages 10–14). Physical victimization rates were higher for boys, whereas girls reported higher emotional victimization experiences and higher peer support. Regardless of gender, a significant moderation effect indicated that physical victimization was significantly related to depressive symptoms among youths with lower peer support. There were significant main effects of parental and peer support for both genders. The findings contribute to the literature regarding the effects of peer victimization on mental health by illustrating the protective role of peer support against depressive symptoms.     

Experiences of physical and relational victimization in children with ADHD: The role of social problems and aggression

The social risk factors for physical and relational peer victimization were examined within a mixed‐gender sample of children with and without attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 124 children (ages 8–12 years; 48% boys), with 47% exhibiting sub‐clinical or clinical elevations in ADHD symptoms. ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptom counts were assessed based on parent‐ and teacher‐reports; parents rated children's social problems and teachers rated children's use of physical and relational aggression and experiences of physical and relational victimization. A multiple mediator model was used to test whether there were indirect effects of ADHD or ODD symptoms on physical and relational victimization through social problems, physical aggression, or relational aggression. At the bivariate level, ADHD and ODD symptoms were both significantly associated with higher rates of physical and relational victimization. In the mediational model, there were significant indirect effects of ADHD symptoms on relational victimization via social problems, of ODD on relational victimization via relational aggression, and of ODD symptoms on physical victimization via physical aggression. Results suggest that there are distinct risk factors implicated in the physical and relational victimization of youth with ADHD and that the co‐occurrence of ODD symptoms is important to assess. Clinical implications for addressing victimization in children with ADHD are discussed.

     

童年中期身体侵害、关系侵害与儿童的情绪适应

采用整群抽样法选取2603名小学儿童（平均年龄9.05 ± 0.53岁）作为被试,考察童年中期同伴侵害现象的基本特点,以及同伴侵害与情绪适应（孤独感、社交焦虑和抑郁）的关系。结果发现：（1）在性别差异方面,男生的身体侵害与关系侵害水平均显著高于女生,与身体侵害相比,关系侵害的性别差异程度较小。在同伴侵害的类型特点方面,儿童遭受身体侵害的水平显著高于关系侵害。（2）身体侵害、关系侵害与儿童的各情绪适应指标显著正相关,身体侵害和关系侵害能同时预测儿童的情绪适应不良;并且与身体侵害相比,关系侵害对情绪适应的影响更大。（3）身体侵害与社交焦虑的关系表现出性别差异,即身体侵害能预测女生的社交焦虑,而对男生的社交焦虑不存在预测作用;但同伴侵害与孤独感、抑郁的关系不受性别的调节。总体而言,有同伴侵害经历的男生和女生具有相似的情绪适应问题。     

Peer victimization as a risk factor for schizotypal personality in childhood and adolescence

There has been no prior research on peer victimization and child or adolescent schizotypal personality. This study tests the hypothesis that increased peer victimization is associated with increased schizotypal personality. Schizotypy was assessed using the SPQ-C (Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Child) in 3,508 male and female schoolchildren aged 8 to 16 years. All forms of peer victimization (physical, verbal, social manipulation, attack on property) were associated with schizotypal personality in both males and females across all age groups. Significant victimization more than doubled schizotypy scores. It is hypothesized that peer victimization may predispose to paranoid ideation, social anxiety, and lack of close friends, and consequently heightened schizotypal personality.     

Personal and interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers

This study was designed to determine whether the personal and interpersonal difficulties that characterize victimized children are antecedents of victimization, consequences of victimization, or both. Boys and girls in the 3rd through 7th grades (N = 173, mean age = 11.3 years) were assessed on victimization, personal variables (internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and physical strength), and interpersonal variables (number of friends and peer rejection). One year later children were assessed again on all variables. Internalizing problems, physical weakness, and peer rejection contributed uniquely to gains in victimization over time. Moreover, initial victimization predicted increases in later internalizing symptoms and peer rejection. These reciprocal influences suggest the existence of a vicious cycle that supports the strong temporal stability of peer victimization.     

Peer victimization, depression, and suicidiality in adolescents

The association between specific types of peer victimization with depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among adolescents was examined. A self-report survey was completed by 2,342 high-school students. Regression analyses indicated that frequent exposure to all types of peer victimization was related to high risk of depression, ideation, and attempts compared to students not victimized. Infrequent victimization was also related to increased risk, particularly among females. The more types of victimization the higher the risk for depression and suicidality among both genders. Specific types of peer victimization are a potential risk factor for adolescent depression and suicidality. It is important to assess depression and suicidality among victimized students in order to develop appropriate intervention methods.     

Relational and physical forms of peer victimization in preschool

Recent studies of peer victimization have demonstrated the importance of studying relational as well as physical forms of peer maltreatment for understanding children's social-psychological adjustment problems. Studies in this area have been limited thus far by a focus on school-age children (9-12-year-olds). Given the significance of early identification of children's social difficulties for intervention and prevention efforts, this research was designed to assess relational and physical peer victimization among preschool-age children (3-5-year-olds). Results indicated that boys were significantly more physically victimized than girls whereas girls were more relationally victimized. Both relational and physical victims experienced greater adjustment problems than did their peers. Relational victimization contributed unique information about adjustment beyond that provided by physical victimization.     

Peer Rejection and Internalizing Behavior: The Mediating Role of Peer Victimization in Preschool

The author examined the relationship among peer rejection, peer victimization, and internalizing behaviors. The author hypothesized that physical and relational victimization would have a different indirect effect on the relationship between peer rejection and internalizing behaviors. Participants were 94 preschool children (37 girls; average age 49.97 months) from two university preschools located in the northern part of the United States. The results indicated that internalizing behaviors predicted the mediating variables only regarding relational victimization. Relational victimization indirectly affected the association between peer rejection and internalizing behaviors. The study provides evidence of the mediating effect of victimization behaviors on the relationship among peer rejection, victimization, and internalizing behaviors.