Peer victimization in school and mental and physical health problems in young adulthood: Examining the role of revictimization at the workplace.

Abstract

Peer victimization during the school years can impair victims' mental and physical health even in adulthood. Moreover, some victims of school bullying may also experience revictimization at work as adults. Later revictimization at work may thus at least partly explain (i.e., mediate) the negative consequences of peer victimization in school. Revictimization at work may also exacerbate (i.e., moderate), the association between peer victimization in school and impaired mental and physical health in adulthood. These hypotheses were tested with 251 participants (61% females) followed from age 12 to 25. Participants reported about their depression symptoms and victimization experiences every year throughout adolescence, workplace victimization at age 22, and mental and physical health symptoms at age 25. Latent path analysis revealed that peer victimization during adolescence was significantly associated with lower overall mental and physical health at age 25 and a small, albeit significant part of this association was mediated by workplace victimization at age 22. These associations were mainly due to specific effects on elevated depression symptoms and paranoid ideation at age 25. In contrast, the moderation hypothesis was not supported. The findings emphasize the importance of reducing school bullying before victims become caught in a cycle of abuse and suffer lasting impairments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).