Rates Of Peer Victimization Research Articles

The role of peer victimization in the physical activity and screen time of adolescents: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundNegative peer experiences may lead adolescents with overweight and obesity to be less active and engage in more sitting-related behaviors. Our study is among the first to empirically test these associations and hypothesized that 1) peer victimization would mediate the negative association between body weight status and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and 2) peer victimization would mediate the positive association between body weight status and screen time. Differences by gender were also explored.MethodsParticipants were a part of the Year 1 data (2012–2013) from the COMPASS study, a prospective cohort study of high school students in Ontario and Alberta, Canada. The final sample consisted of 18,147 students in grades 9 to 12 from 43 Ontario secondary schools. The predictor variable was weight status (non-overweight vs. overweight/obese), the mediator was peer victimization, and the outcome variables were screen time and MVPA. Multilevel path analysis was conducted, controlling for clustering within schools and covariates. A few differences were observed between males and females; therefore, the results are stratified by gender.ResultsFor both males and females peer victimization partially mediated the association between weight status and screen time. Specifically, females with overweight/obesity reported 34 more minutes/day of screen time than did females who were not overweight and 2 of these minutes could be attributed to experiencing peer victimization. Similarly, males who were overweight/obese reported 13 more minutes/day of screen time than the males who were not overweight and 1 of these minutes could be attributed to experiencing more victimization. Males and females who were overweight/obese also reported less MVPA compared to those who were not overweight; however, peer victimization did not mediate these associations in the hypothesized direction.ConclusionsWe found that higher rates of peer victimization experienced by adolescents with overweight and obesity partially explained why they engaged in more screen time than adolescents who were not overweight. However, the effects were small and may be of limited practical significance. Because this is one of the first studies to investigate these associations, more research is needed before bully prevention or conflict resolution training are explored as intervention strategies.

Meta-analytic results of ethnic group differences in peer victimization.

Research on the prevalence of peer victimization across ethnicities indicates that no one group is consistently at higher risk. In the present two meta-analyses representing 692,548 children and adolescents (age 6-18 years), we examined ethnic group differences in peer victimization at school by including studies with (a) ethnic majority-minority group comparisons (k = 24), and (b) White and Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Aboriginal comparisons (k = 81). Methodological moderating effects (measure type, definition of bullying, publication type and year, age, and country) were examined in both analyses. Using Cohen's d, results indicated a null effect size for the ethnic majority-minority group comparison. Moderator analyses indicated that ethnic majority youth experienced more peer victimization than ethnic minorities in the US (d = .23). The analysis on multiple group comparisons between White and Black (d = .02), Hispanic (d = .08), Asian (d = .05), Aboriginal (d = -.02) and Biracial (d = -.05) groups indicated small effect sizes. Overall, results from the main and moderator analyses yielded small effects of ethnicity, suggesting that ethnicity assessed as a demographic variable is not an adequate indicator for addressing ethnic group differences in peer victimization. Although few notable differences were found between White and non-White groups regarding rates of peer victimization, certain societal and methodological limitations in the assessment of peer victimization may underestimate differences between ethnicities. Aggr. Behav. Aggr. Behav. 42:149-170, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

National prevalence of peer victimization among young children with disabilities in the United States

Peer victimization is a serious social problem that can negatively affect children's psychosocial development and school adjustment, and may have lasting effects for victims. The rates of peer victimization among preschool children with disabilities, however, are unknown. This paper examines the prevalence and nature of peer victimization among children with disabilities in school settings using data from the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (N = 1270). One-quarter to one-third of preschool children with disabilities experienced some form of peer victimization in school. Peer victimization increased over the 2003–2006 period (21% in Year 1, 25% in Year 2, 30% in Year 3), and there were also substantial rates of co-occurring types of victimization among children with disabilities. These results suggest the urgent need to provide bullying prevention strategies for children with disabilities—strategies which have been previously neglected in the context of school-based bullying prevention and intervention programs.

The school class as a unit for prevalence estimations: Methodological variations, conceptual clarifications, and implications for intervention and theory testing

The present article discusses the data source (self- as opposed to peer assessments) as one of the factors producing substantial variation in estimations of prevalence rates of peer victimization. It is argued that self-report data produce higher variation in prevalence estimations than peer reports. It is suggested that peer data may be preferable for research purposes, whereas self-reports may be more useful for intervention efforts. Second, the need for differentiating “discipline problems” and “genuine peer victimization” on a conceptual level is stressed. Third, it is outlined that this differentiation will lead to different intervention approaches (i.e., direct ones for discipline problems and more indirect ones for genuine peer victimization). Finally, more direct approaches to theory testing are called for. In doing this, the present article comments on data by Atria et al. (this issue) as well as questions raised by the analysis of Mahdavi and Smith (this issue).