Peer Victimization Experiences Research Articles

Entering the Classroom: Do Newcomers Experience More Peer Victimization than Their Established Peers?

Students changing classrooms or schools may face challenges from entering a new peer context without friends and standing out from the crowd as newcomers. Two studies examined whether newcomer status predicts peer victimization at school, exploring several potential moderating factors (e.g., social anxiety, immigrant background and having good friends in the classroom) (Study 1: n = 6,199; Mage=12.53) and whether being victimized as a newcomer varied based on the different reasons for mobility (e.g., parental dissolution, residential move, previous victimization, changing into a more suitable school) (Study 2: n = 58,738). In both studies, newcomers reported higher peer victimization compared to established students. Having good friends in the classroom was found as a protective factor in Study 1, being the only statistically significant moderator. All reasons for mobility, except changing into a more suitable school, predicted slightly higher peer victimization in Study 2, with the highest risk for those changing schools due to previous peer victimization experiences.

Trajectories of peer victimization among left-behind children in rural China: The role of positive school climate.

Left-behind children are likely to experience peer victimization, which can have detrimental consequences in their developmental outcomes. Yet, limited longitudinal research have examined peer victimization trajectories over time or the factors associated with left-behind children in China. The purpose of the present study was to examine what, if any, distinct trajectories of peer victimization exist among left-behind children and whether these trajectories are related to school climate, left-behind status, and their interactions. Participants were 853 Chinese left-behind children (Mage = 14.25, SD = 2.39; 43.4% girls) who participated in a four-wave longitudinal study conducted in rural China. Participants reported school climate (indexed by safety and order, acceptance and support, equality and fairness, autonomy and cooperation) at T1 and peer victimization across T1 to T4 spanning 2 years. Latent class growth analyses identified four peer victimization trajectories, including a stably low-decreasing group, a moderate-decreasing group, a high-decreasing group, and an increasing group. Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that children who perceived more positive school climate were more likely to exhibit a stably low-decreasing trajectory compared to the other three groups. In addition, among left-behind children who perceived more positive school climate, children with single-parent migrating were more likely to be members of the stably low-decreasing group as compared to those with both-parent migrating. Peer victimization among left-behind children is a concern especially for those who were left behind by both parents and perceived less positive school climate. Targeted school-based interventions and services focused on reducing peer victimization and improving school climate are needed for left-behind children, especially those with both-parent migrating.

Cognitive Reappraisal Moderates the Longitudinal Relationship between Adolescents' Peer Victimization and Self-Esteem. A Latent Interaction Model.

Poor self-esteem relates closely to youth maladjustment and appears to be predicted by peer victimization experiences. However, not all peer victimized adolescents face the same risk for self-esteem erosion over time. Drawing upon the Bi-Dimensional Framework for resilience and extant research, the present study examined the potential moderating role of cognitive reappraisal in the prospective relationship from peer victimization to self-esteem. To increase precision of findings the long-term impact of self-esteem on peer victimization was also tested. Self-reported data were collected from 285 early adolescents (Mage = 10.53 years, SD = 0.16; 54.0% girls) at two waves, spaced 1-year. Latent moderated structural equation analysis showed that peer victimization was negatively related to later self-esteem, but only for youth displaying low levels of cognitive reappraisal. For adolescents with high levels of cognitive reappraising, peer victimization was not found to predict any changes in self-esteem over time. The long-term impact of self-esteem on peer victimization was not supported. Overall the present study suggests that enhancing cognitive reappraisal could be a promising avenue for lowering risk for poor self-esteem in young individuals experiencing peer victimization.

ADHD Symptoms and Sleep Problems During Middle Childhood: The Indirect Effect of Peer Victimization.

The present cross-sectional study evaluated whether traditional and/or cyber peer victimization served as mechanisms linking ADHD symptoms to sleep disturbance and sleep impairment in a sample of 284 third- through fifth-grade students (51.9% boys; 50.4% Hispanic/Latine) from two elementary schools in the United States. ADHD symptoms were assessed using teacher ratings. Children provided reports of their traditional and cyber victimization as well as their sleep disturbance and impairment. Results from path analysis models revealed significant indirect effects of traditional victimization on the links from ADHD symptoms to sleep disturbance and impairment. There was also a significant indirect effect of cyber victimization on the link from ADHD symptoms to sleep impairment. These findings suggest that experiences of traditional and cyber peer victimization may need to be addressed among children exhibiting ADHD symptoms in order to mitigate their risk for sleep problems and downstream effects on other domains of psychosocial functioning.

Longitudinal study of peer victimization, social support, and mental health during early adolescence.

Peer victimization predicts the development of mental health symptoms in the transition to adolescence, but it is unclear whether and how parents and school environments can buffer this link. We analyzed two-year longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, involving a diverse sample of 11 844 children across the United States (average at baseline = 9.91 years; standard deviation = 0.63; range = 8.92-11.08; complete case sample = 8385). Longitudinal associations between peer victimization and two-year changes in mental health symptoms of major depression disorder (MDD), separation anxiety (SA), prodromal psychosis (PP), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were examined including a wide range of covariates. Mixed linear models were used to test for the moderating effects of parental warmth and prosocial school environment. 20% of children experienced peer victimization. Higher exposure to peer victimization was associated with increases in MDD, SA, and ADHD symptoms. Parental warmth was associated with decreases in MDD symptoms but did not robustly buffer the link between peer victimization and mental health symptoms. Prosocial school environment predicted decreases in PP symptoms and buffered the link between peer victimization and MDD symptoms but amplified the link between peer victimization and SA and ADHD symptoms. Peer victimization is associated with increases in mental health symptoms during the transition to adolescence. Parental warmth and prosocial school environments might not be enough to counter the negative consequences of peer victimization on all mental health outcomes.

Parental migration and peer victimization: implications for school and psychological adjustment of left-behind adolescents in rural China

This one-year longitudinal study examined the relations of parental migration and peer victimization and their interactions with later academic and psychological functioning in Chinese adolescents. Participants included 1234 students in seventh grade (633 boys, mean age = 13.25 years) in a rural region of Anhui, China. Data on peer victimization, academic functioning, and psychological problems were obtained from peer nominations, teacher ratings, school records, and self-reports. Results showed that parental migration had significant and negative effects on later academic performance for adolescents who experienced high peer victimization. For adolescents who had not experienced peer victimization, whereas mother migration was not significantly associated with later academic performance, father migration positively contributed to increased academic achievement. In addition, adolescents with one parent who had migrated displayed more psychological problems than adolescents whose parents both migrated or did not migrate. The results suggest that parental migration may contribute differently to adolescent adjustment across domains and that the contributions may be moderated by individual social experiences with others and parental migration status. The results are discussed in the Chinese rural context.

Family Meal Environment Differentially Conditions the Prospective Association between Early Childhood Screen Time and Key Social Relationships in Adolescent Girls.

Background: Despite screen time recommendations, children are increasingly spending time on electronic devices, rendering it an important risk factor for subsequent social and developmental outcomes. Sharing meals could offer a way to promote psychosocial development. This study examines the interaction between family meal environment and early childhood screen time on key adolescent social relationships. Methods: Participants are 1455 millennial children (49% boys) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development birth cohort. Parents reported on child screen use at ages 2 and 6 years and family meal environment quality at age 6 years. Parents and children reported on parent-child relationships and peer victimization experiences, respectively, at age 13 years. Sex-stratified multiple regression estimated the direct association between screen time trends, family meal environment quality, and their interaction on later social relationship outcomes. Results: For girls, when preschool screen time increased, sharing family meals in high-quality environments was associated with more positive and less conflictual relationships with their mothers, whereas meals shared in low- and moderate-quality environments were associated with fewer instances of victimization by their peers. Non-linear associations were not significant for boys. Conclusion: Capitalizing on family meal environment represents a simple/cost-efficient activity that can compensate for some long-term risks associated with increased screen use, above and beyond pre-existing and concurrent individual and family characteristics. Public health initiatives may benefit from considering family meals as a complementary intervention strategy to screen use guidelines.

Youth Aggression and Peer Victimization as Predictors of Adolescent Alcohol and Marijuana Use: A Longitudinal Analysis of Youth with Aggressive Behavior Problems.

Youth who are behaviorally aggressive and victimized by their peers comprise a significant population with specific risks and vulnerabilities relative to substance use. The goals of the current study were to examine the roles that youth aggression and peer victimization play in determining the timing of alcohol and marijuana use initiation and the frequency of use 5-years later in a sample of at-risk, aggressive youth. 360 youth (Mage= 10.17 years; 65% boys, 35% girls; 78.1% African American, 20.3% Caucasian, 1.4% Hispanic, and 0.3% other) recruited for a prevention program for at-risk youth were followed for 5 years (4th - 9th grade). Cox PH regressions were conducted to predict timing of alcohol and marijuana use initiation. Zero-inflated negative binomial regressions were used to predict frequency of alcohol and marijuana use 5 years later. Results showed that peer victimization inferred decreased risk of alcohol use initiation. However, this effect was only observed for youth with relatively moderate, and low levels of aggression. Findings suggest that differences in youth aggression and victimization interact to predict distinct outcomes, suggesting the need for a more comprehensive approach when working with aggressive youth who have experienced peer victimization.

Effects of Peer Victimization in Childhood and Trait Anxiety on Job Stress in Adulthood.

The experience of peer victimization in childhood increases the risk of developing anxiety disorders and depression, risk of suicide, as well as sensitivity to stress, in adulthood. Various personality traits are known to be associated with these effects. However, the influence of trait anxiety on job stress has not yet been reported. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the experience of peer victimization in childhood and trait anxiety influence job stress in adulthood. A questionnaire survey, including State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Childhood Victimization Rating Scale, and Brief Job Stress Questionnaire, was administered to 566 adult workers. The interrelationship between multiple variables was analyzed by multiple regression analysis and path analysis. In the path model, childhood peer victimization had a positive direct effect on trait anxiety and the psychological and physical stress response (PPSR). Trait anxiety had a positive direct effect on job stressors and PPSR, and job stressors had a positive direct effect on PPSR. Regarding indirect effects, childhood peer victimization had a significant adverse effect on job stressors and PPSR via trait anxiety. Our results showed that childhood peer victimization has a negative impact on job stress in adulthood, which is influenced by trait anxiety. Interventions to address peer victimization in childhood and trait anxiety may reduce job stress in adulthood, and thus contribute to improved occupational mental health and productivity in the workplace.

School victimization and psychosocial adjustment among Eastern European adopted adolescents across Europe.

Little is known about bullying experienced by internationally adopted teens residing in Europe. Within the framework of an international research effort involving several European countries, the main goal of this study was to explore the experiences of bullying victimization suffered by adopted adolescents, as well as its impact on their psychological adjustment. The sample consisted of 199 adolescents born in Eastern European countries and adopted in France (n = 50), Italy (n = 59), Norway (n = 25) and Spain (n = 65). More than half of the adopted adolescents had been exposed to some form of peer victimization in the previous 2 months, with verbal harassment and social exclusion being the most common forms of victimization. Differences between receiving countries were not statistically significant, suggesting a common pattern for Eastern European adopted adolescents living in Western Europe. More frequent experiences of peer victimization were associated with more psychological difficulties among the adopted adolescents. Findings highlight that adopted adolescents might have considerable difficulties in social integration with peers; these experiences of peer victimization might play an important role hindering their psychosocial adjustment. The socioemotional development of adopted people is not only linked to their pre-adoptive experiences; factors in their daily lives (i.e., peer relationships) may also be associated with their psychological adjustment later in life. Interventions are needed to promote the real inclusion of these groups of children in their social and educational contexts.

The Longitudinal Interplay between Adverse Peer Experiences and Self-Regulation Facets: A Prospective Analysis during Middle Childhood

Positive peer experiences and self-regulation (SR) skills are crucial for children's healthy development, but little is known about how they interact during middle childhood. Therefore, we examined the prospective links between adverse peer experiences (APEs) and SR, drawing from the dataset of the PIER study. Across three measurement points, 1654 children aged 6–11 (T1), 7–11 (T2), and 9–13 years (T3) were included. We assessed the SR facets updating, flexibility, inhibition, emotional reactivity, inhibitory control, and planning using computerized tasks, parent- and teacher-reports. The latent variable of APEs consisted of measures of peer victimization and peer rejection assessed via self-, parent-, and teacher-report. Separate cross-lagged panel models were calculated, investigating the interplay of each SR facet and APEs. Results indicated that experiencing more APEs at T1 predicted higher emotional reactivity, and lower inhibition, inhibitory control, updating, and flexibility at T2. More APEs at T2 predicted higher emotional reactivity and lower planning at T3. Lower inhibition, updating, and flexibility at T2 predicted more APEs at T3. Accordingly, we found a negative bidirectional relationship between inhibition, updating, and flexibility with APEs. Our findings highlight that during middle childhood more APEs predict lower SR, which in turn predicts more experiences of peer victimization and rejection.

Childhood bullying victimization, emotion regulation, rumination, distress tolerance, and depressive symptoms: A cross-national examination among young adults in seven countries.

Existing research suggests a robust association between childhood bullying victimization and depressive symptoms in adulthood, but less is known about potential mediators of this link. Furthermore, there is limited cross-national research evaluating similarities and differences in bullying victimization and its associations with mental health. The current study addressed gaps in the literature by evaluating cognitive and affective responses to stress (i.e., emotion regulation, rumination, and distress tolerance) as potential mediators of the link between recalled bullying victimization and current depressive symptoms among 5909 (70.6% female) college students from seven countries. Results revealed specific indirect associations of bullying victimization through distress tolerance and three out of four facets of rumination, as well as a persistent direct association of childhood bullying on adulthood depression. Emotion regulation strategies were not significantly associated with bullying victimization and did not mediate its association with depressive symptoms. Constrained multigroup models indicated that results were invariant across country and gender. Findings provide evidence of statistical mediation in a cross-sectional sample and await replication in prospective studies. Rumination and distress tolerance may be promising targets for resilience-promoting interventions among children experiencing peer victimization. Ongoing research is needed to clarify cross-national patterns in childhood bullying, identify additional mediators accounting for the remaining direct association, and evaluate emotion regulation as a potential moderator of associations between bullying victimization and adult mental health.

Diversity protects: The role of school and classroom racial/ethnic diversity on the experience of peer victimization during the middle school years.

The effects of school and classroom racial/ethnic diversity on peer victimization, self-blame, and perceived school safety were examined in a racially/ethnically diverse sample of students followed over the three years of middle school. Sixth grade students (N = 5,991, 52% female; M = 11.63 years) were recruited from 26 urban middle schools that systematically varied in racial/ethnic diversity. Based on student self-report, the sample was 31.6% Latino/Mexican, 19.6% White, 17.4%, Multiethnic/Biracial, 13% East/Southeast Asian, 10.9% Black, and 6.9% Other very small racial/ethnic groups. Each school had a structural diversity score based on the number and size of racial/ethnic groups enrolled. Using a novel method based on course schedules and class rosters, each student's individual exposure to diversity in their classes was assessed to capture dynamic diversity. Latent growth modeling showed that structural school diversity and dynamic classroom diversity were both related to less victimization at the start of middle school and a decrease over time. Dynamic classroom diversity buffered the associations between victimization and self-blame and between victimization and perceiving school as unsafe. Dynamic classroom diversity was more protective than structural school diversity. Implications for practice, intervention and policies to promote school racial/ethnic diversity were discussed.

Parental sensitivity predicts parent-adolescent agreement about peer victimization.

Effective parental responses to peer victimization may hinge on parental awareness of youths' peer victimization experiences, yet predictors of parental awareness are understudied. We investigated the extent of parent-adolescent agreement about early adolescents' peer victimization experiences as well as predictors of parent-adolescent agreement. Participants included a diverse community sample of early adolescents (N = 80; Mage = 12.36 years, SD = 1.33; 55% Black, 42.5% White, 2.5% other race/ethnicity) and their parents. Observer-rated parental sensitivity and adolescent-reported parental warmth were examined as predictors of parent-adolescent agreement about peer victimization. Following contemporary analytic procedures for examining informant agreement and discrepancies, polynomial regression analyses revealed that parental sensitivity moderated the association between parent and early adolescent reports of peer victimization, such that the association between parent and early adolescent reports of peer victimization was stronger at higher levels of parental sensitivity than lower levels of parental sensitivity. These results provide insight into how to enhance parental awareness of peer victimization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Do adolescence peer victimization experiences hamper healthy relationships in young adulthood?

ABSTRACT The current study examines whether peer victimization experienced in early adolescence is associated with compromised social functioning 14 years later in young adulthood. The sample involved 1533 young adults (65.1% female, Mage = 27.06) who had participated in a large research project as middle school students (7th and 8th graders, with 13–14 years of age at wave 1) in Finland. Self-reported victimization during 1 year in middle school across three time points (waves 1–3) was first used to predict young adults' romantic relationship satisfaction and victimization at workplace (wave 4), while controlling for gender and initial grade level. The model suggested that peer victimization was associated with lower level of romantic relationship satisfaction and an increased risk for workplace victimization. When middle school depression, social anxiety, and bullying perpetration were added as covariates, peer victimization in middle school was no longer directly related to romantic relationship satisfaction. Peer victimization and bullying perpetration were each predictive of workplace victimization in this model. Adolescence bullying perpetration did not moderate the impact of victimization on adult outcomes. The findings suggest that the prevention of bullying and peer victimization as well as depression in adolescence is important to lower the long-term risks for social adjustment.

Attentional bias for sad facial expressions in adults with a history of peer victimization.

Previous research has indicated altered attentional processing in individuals with experiences of maltreatment or victimization in childhood and adolescence. The present study examined the impact of child and adolescent experiences of relational peer victimization on attentional processes in adulthood when confronted with emotional facial expressions. As part of an online study, a community sample of adults completed a facial dot-probe task. In the present task, pictures of facial expressions displaying four different emotions (anger, disgust, happiness, and sadness) were used. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that retrospective reports of peer victimization made a significant contribution to the prediction of facilitated orienting processes for sad facial expressions. Experiences of emotional child maltreatment, on the other hand, made a significant contribution to the prediction of attentional biases for angry facial expressions. Our results emphasize the relevance of experiences of emotional and relational maltreatment in childhood and in adolescence for the processing of social stimuli in adulthood. The findings regarding emotional child maltreatment are more indicative of attentional biases in the context of threat detection, whereas the altered attentional processes in peer victimization are more indicative of mood-congruent biases. These altered processes may be active in social situations and may therefore influence future social situations, behavior, feelings, and thus mental health.

Associations Between Peer Victimization and Problematic Internet Use Among Adolescents: Humor Makes a Difference.

With the increasing development of science and technology, the Internet has become an essential part of people's daily lives providing great convenience. However, the Internet also leads to problematic Internet use (PIU) among adolescents, which has attracted increasing attention from the academic community. Peer victimization is a pervasive stressor among adolescents and has been proven to lead to a series of mental health challenges. Although the association between peer victimization and PIU has been well documented, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to understand how and when peer victimization increases the risk of PIU among adolescents. Building on Agnew's general strain theory, this study hypothesized that depression mediates the relationship between peer victimization and PIU and humor moderates the mediating model. To examine these hypotheses, 469 middle school students were recruited to complete a series of questionnaires on peer victimization, depression, humor, and PIU. The results showed that depression partially mediated the relationship between peer victimization and PIU. A moderated mediation analysis indicated that humor moderated the indirect pathway, consistent with the reverse stress-buffering model, the relationship between peer victimization and depression was stronger for adolescents with high humor. However, the relationship between depression and PIU was weaker in adolescents with high humor, which is in line with the stress-buffering model. These findings could be of significance in understanding the underlying mechanism of PIU associated with peer victimization and provide a new perspective for preventing PIU among adolescents, especially those experiencing peer victimization. The limitations and considerations for future research are discussed.

Peer victimization and eating behaviors in college students: the mediating role of perceived stress

Purpose This study aims to examine whether peer victimization predicted disordered eating behaviors during emerging adulthood, and if this relationship was mediated by perceived stress. Design/methodology/approach Participants included undergraduate females from a diverse university in the Southwestern USA who reported on their experiences of peer victimization, perceived stress and eating behaviors. Findings Mediation analysis revealed that perceived stress partially mediated the association between peer victimization and perceived stress. Peer victimization significantly predicted eating behaviors even after controlling for perceived stress. An exploratory analysis of the EAT-26 subscales was also conducted. Research limitations/implications The present study adds to the literature on peer victimization, eating behaviors and stress by allowing researchers to understand the complexity of these relationships within an emerging adulthood population. The present results can assist individuals working with this population in interventions to prevent instances of victimization, reduce stress and provide psychoeducation for eating disorders. Originality/value The present study adds to the literature on peer victimization, eating behaviors and stress by allowing researchers to understand the complexity of these relationships within a college population.

Emerging Ideas: Is sibling aggression as scary as peer aggression in childhood and adolescence?

AbstractObjectiveWe compared the frequency of fearfulness for sibling versus peer victimization experiences (severe and minor physical, property, and psychological) in childhood and adolescence.BackgroundSibling aggression is not recognized as a childhood adversity. Yet a tenet of the family violence literature is that abuse is more fearsome when living with an abuser.MethodTelephone interviews were conducted with parents of children aged 1 to 9 years and with adolescents 10 to 17 years old living with a juvenile sibling (N = 7,029; 49% female) using data from three combined surveys of the National Survey on Children's Exposure to Violence.ResultsFear of sibling aggression was less common than peer aggression. Further, sibling aggression was less fearful than peer aggression for severe and minor physical and property episodes. There was little variation by gender, ethnicity, and parent education level.ConclusionsChildren and adolescents do not lack fear from sibling aggression, but the fear is lower than for peer aggression.ImplicationsA prevalent idea in the family violence literature that living with an offender generates more fear was not supported for sibling aggression.

The interpretation of discrepancies between peer victimization experiences reported by different informants in capturing victimization-related genetic liability. Acommentary on Armitage etal.(2022).

A recent work published in this journal by Armitage etal. reported that wellbeing-related genetic scores (PGS) are associated with self-informed peer victimization questionnaires. In contrast, peer- and teacher-informed measures would capture intelligence and educational attainment PGS better. However, we argue that this dichotomy does not find comprehensive support in the literature; instead, informants other than self and especially peers may provide reports from angles particularly relevant to mental health. For example, peer reports may more objectively capture adverse social reactions evoked by genetic factors (i.e., evocative gene-environment correlations). Thus, we recommend caution in generalizing the conclusion that self-reports capture the association between genetic contribution to mental health and peer victimization better than other-informant measures, as different gene-environment mechanisms may be at play.