Child abuse and individual traits related to developmental trajectories of bullying victimization: An integrated, multitheoretical approach.

Abstract

Adolescents who experience prior victimization such as child abuse within the home and experience low self-esteem/depression are at higher risk of repetitive bullying victimization when compared to those without such experiences. Recent scholarship has explored growth trajectories of bullying during adolescent development; however, relatively little is known about distinct trajectory patterns of bullying victimization across adolescent development. The current study identifies unobserved subgroups thus capturing the heterogeneity in developmental pathways in bullying victimization. The current study uniquely utilized a multitheoretical approach to help explain the phenomenon of bullying victimization among a national sample of 2,190 youth in South Korea from 2010 to 2016. Theories tested include the integrated approach of target congruence, lifestyle and routine activities theories (LRAT), and the state dependence and population heterogeneity perspectives. To conduct this analysis, we performed a three-step latent class growth analysis. The study revealed three distinct trajectory groups. Korean adolescents who had higher levels of low self-esteem demonstrated greater odds of belonging to both the early-onset and decreasing and increasing and late peak groups. Those who had low-self-esteem and were depressed demonstrated greater odds of belonging to the early-onset and decreasing group. Prior experience of child abuse for the early-onset and decreasing group was fully mediated by the measures of target congruence and lifestyles. The current study contributes to research on developmental victimization by demonstrating the utility of integrating target congruence variables with lifestyle-routine activity concepts in explaining heterogeneity.