No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Peer victimization and depression in early-mid adolescence: A longitudinal study
Abstract
Despite considerable evidence for psychological distress among children and young people who experience peer victimization, cross-sectional studies cannot determine the direction of the relationship. Several recent studies have examined associations between victimization and distress. The majority find evidence for both directions but do not arbitrate between them; only one prior study has attempted to do this.
To use longitudinal data to: (1) test competing hypotheses about the direction of the victimization-depression association; (2) investigate gender differences in the resulting models.
Data were obtained from a Scottish school-based cohort (N=2,586).
Self-completion questionnaires included a depression scale and questions on victimization at each age.
Despite shifts in and out of victim status, there was evidence of stability in both victimization and depression. Bivariate analyses showed positive relationships between victimization and depression. Structural equation modelling (SEM) showed that at age 13, this relationship was reciprocal, with a stronger path from victimization to depression than vice versa. However, at age 15, it was almost entirely due to a path from depression to victimization among boys. Models including cross-lagged paths fitted the data less well than those including simultaneous associations.
Current policy focuses on victimization as a cause of distress; however, professionals should be aware that vulnerable children and young people are likely to be the targets of victimization.
... This is consistent with stress generation theories, which hypothesize that individuals with depression may elicit reactions from others that contribute to the generation of additional interpersonal stress in their lives (Hammen, 1991). Previous research has also shown that peer victimization and depressive symptoms in youth may impact each other transactionally, with peer victimization contributing to future increases in depressive symptom, which, in turn, contribute to additional peer victimization, thus creating a vicious cycle of risk (e.g., Forbes et al., 2019;Sweeting et al., 2006; see also Reijntjes et al., 2010). ...
... At the within-subject level, therefore, we hypothesized that relative increases in relational and overt victimization at a particular timepoint compared to one's average level would predict prospective increases in youths' depressive symptoms, again compared to their own average symptom level. Consistent with stress generation hypotheses as well as prior research (e.g., Forbes et al., 2019;Reijntjes et al., 2010;Sweeting et al., 2006), we also predicted the reverse direction of influence -that increases compared to one's average level of depressive symptoms would predict subsequent increases in levels of relational and overt victimization. ...
... At the within-subject level, we examined whether within-person fluctuations in levels of relational victimization between time points predicted within-subject increases and decreases in offspring depressive symptoms. Consistent with stress generation models implicating transactional influences (e.g., Forbes et al., 2019;Sweeting et al., 2006), we also examined the impact of within-subject Finally, we tested for across-wave equivalence, which establishes that the effect of one variable on prospective change in the other variable is consistent across all time points (see Cole & Maxwell 2003). We would expect the paths to be equivalent across waves because the timing of the first assessment was not based on a specific event (e.g., starting middle school). ...
Offspring of mothers with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) are at high risk of developing the disorder themselves, yet specific mechanisms of risk remain unclear. One hypothesized mechanism is interpersonal stress, which has been shown to be elevated in offspring of mothers with a history of MDD. The goal of this study was to examine the role of a specific form of interpersonal stress, peer victimization (overt and relational). In doing so, we not only examined the impact of peer victimization on changes in youth depression, but also youth depression on changes in peer victimization, consistent with stress generation models. Participants were 251 mothers with (n = 129) or without (n = 122) a history of MDD and their child (aged 8-14 years at baseline) who were assessed every six months for two years. Using random intercepts cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM), we were able to separate between-subject effects (mother MDD group differences in average levels of peer victimization and offspring depressive symptoms) and within-subject effects (transactional influences between within-subject fluctuations in peer victimization and depressive symptoms among offspring over time). Overall, these effects were stronger for relational victimization than for overt victimization and stronger for girls than boys. These results support the role of peer victimization, particularly relational victimization, as a risk factor among offspring of mothers with MDD, particularly girls, and highlight transactional relations between relational victimization and depressive symptoms in girls over time, which may create a vicious cycle of risk.
... Physical and verbal victimization are considered overt or direct forms of aggression, whereas relational victimization is defined as indirect attempts to use existing relationships to harm others through social exclusion or gossiping (De Los Reyes & Prinstein, 2004). Evidence clearly documents the negative impact of peer victimization on depressive symptoms both concurrently and longitudinally (Forbes et al., 2019;Stapinski et al., 2015;Sweeting et al., 2006). Although a recent study comprising a large community sample of adolescents found different types of victimization to be similarly associated with depression (Forbes et al., 2020), other studies suggest indirect forms of peer victimization, such as relational and verbal, may be more related than physical victimization to depressive symptoms, due to targeting negative self-perceptions (Prinstein et al., 2001;Sinclair et al., 2012). ...
... There are several possible explanations for these findings. First, a large body of literature documents the reciprocal association between depressive symptoms and peer victimization in adolescents (Epkins & Heckler, 2011;Forbes et al., 2019;Sweeting et al., 2006). In our sample, bivariate correlations between T1 depression and T2 peer victimization were noticeably larger compared to T1 SCT or ADHD symptoms with T2 peer victimization, likely reducing any ability to detect a unique effect of SCT on later peer victimization. ...
... Nevertheless, several limitations are important to note. First, we recognize that links between SCT, peer victimization, and depression may be reciprocal, given evidence pointing to internalizing problems as risk factors for peer victimization (Sweeting et al., 2006). Given a recent study showing SCT as a predictor of depression (but not the reverse) (Becker et al., 2019a), the goal of the current study was to examine peer victimization as a process linking between SCT to depression, though future studies may consider alternative pathways. ...
It is unknown whether sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is prospectively associated with depression in adolescence, and possible processes linking SCT to depression remain unexamined. Using a longitudinal study with three timepoints over a two-year period, the current study tested the indirect effects of SCT on depression via peer victimization, specifically physical , relational, and verbal victimization. Participants were 302 adolescents (M age = 13.17 years; 44.7% female participants; 81.8% White; 52% with ADHD). In the fall of 8th grade, adolescents and parents completed measures of adolescents' SCT and ADHD symptoms. Adolescents completed a measure of peer victimization in spring of 8th grade and a measure of depressive symptoms in 10th grade. Models examining indirect effects were conducted with and without control of baseline ADHD and/or depressive symptoms. Across analyses, adolescent and parent ratings of SCT symptoms uniquely predicted greater depressive symptoms two years later when controlling for adolescent sex, study site, and either 8th grade depres-sive or ADHD symptoms. Further, adolescents' self-reported 8th grade SCT symptoms predicted 10th grade depressive symptoms via verbal victimization when controlling for 8th grade ADHD symptoms, but not in analyses incorporating 8th grade depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the predictive association of SCT on depressive symptoms, the possible role of adverse peer relationships as a mechanism linking SCT to depression, and the importance of considering ADHD and depressive symptoms in research on longitudinal correlates of SCT.
... As mentioned earlier, interpersonal theories of depression suggest that depressive symptomology should be addressed in the transactions between depressive symptoms and individual's aversive interpersonal experiences (Coyne, 1976;Rudolph, 2009) such as peer victimization (Sweeting et al., 2006). Becoming the target of others' bullying behavior marks a widespread phenomenon (Biswas et al., 2020), usually equally reported by adolescent girls and boys (Haraldstad et al., 2019). ...
... In contrast, the interpersonal risk model states that negatively toned social interactions, such as prolonged peer victimization, confer risk for depression (e.g., Schwartz et al., 2015) by interfering with individual's intrinsic need for social connection and/or by generating maladaptive self-cognitions (e.g., perceiving one's social world as threatening) to the victims (Cole et al., 2016). However, there is also ample evidence to support a transactional model in which depressive symptoms and peer victimization are related reciprocally, creating a stable, escalating and vicious spiral across time (Davis et al., 2019;Sweeting et al., 2006). ...
... While there is no universal consensus on how long the time-interval between waves should be, in the social sciences inter-wave time lags of 6-24months are considered generally normal (e.g., Walters, 2019). More specifically, the 1-year time lag employed in the present study has been suggested to be long enough to detect substantial cross lagged effects in middle-aged students (Sweeting et al., 2006). It has to be mentioned that no compensate was given to participants. ...
The main aim of this study was to examine one potential mediator of the prospective association between depressive symptoms and peer victimization: sadness rumination. Data were collected from 302 early adolescents ( M age = 0.53, SD =.16; 55.3% girls), at two waves, 1-year spaced, using self-reports. Depressive symptoms preceded increases in peer victimization and sadness rumination. Sadness rumination preceded increases in peer victimization. Sadness rumination mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and increases in peer victimization. Multi-group analysis indicated that the mediation model tested was significant for boys, but not for girls. Overall, depression-related peer victimization could be minimized with intervention programs targeting early adolescents’ sadness rumination tendencies. Future research should further explain why depressed boys may face greater risk than girls in displaying increases in sadness rumination over time, which in turn, may lead to more frequent experiences of peer victimization.
... La depresión, por otro lado, es uno de los factores de riesgo más citados dentro de estas investigaciones como consecuencia de la victimización y el maltrato entre iguales (McDougall & Vaillancourt, 2015). Diversas investigaciones han generado evidencia de la relación entre la depresión y la victimización entre iguales dentro del aula (Hanish & Guerra, 2000;Hawker & Boulton, 2000;Snyder et al., 2003;Sweeting et al., 2006;Zwierzynska, Wolke & Lereya, 2013). ...
... Diversas investigaciones, incluyendo estudios longitudinales, han mostrado que existe una asociación entre las diversas formas de victimización entre iguales y la depresión (Hanish & Guerra, 2002;Hawker & Boulton, 2000;Snyder et al., 2003;Sweeting et al., 2006;Zwierzynska, Wolke & Lereya, 2013;Klomek et al., 2007;2008;Sourander et al., 2009). La reciente revisión meta-analítica de Moore et al., (2017) identifica mas de 150 investigaciones y presenta evidencia suficiente para demostrar la relación causal entre la victimización y la depresión entre otros problemas de salud mental. ...
... Algunos autores defienden que los adolescentes que muestran síntomas de depresión podrían ser consecuencia de la victimización que sufren en el aula, pero también un factor de riesgo dentro de las dinámicas del grupo ya que los agresores podrían percibir estos estudiantes como blancos fáciles con dificultades para defenderse por sí mismos (Garandeau & Cillessen, 2006). Un estudio longitudinal en el Reino Unido concluye que la asociación entre la victimización y los problemas internalizadores y sociales son recíprocos y se relacionan bidireccionalmente (Sweeting et al., 2006). La victimización escolar del adolescente se ha asociado, con síntomas psicológicos negativos anteriormente descritos y un pobre ajuste psicosocial (Defensor del Pueblo, 2007), poniendo de manifiesto la importancia de la prevención e intervención del bullying y la victimización en contextos educativos. ...
This thesis studies the influence of the parental context on bullying within educational settings, taking into account the context of the classroom.
The thesis is structured in three cross-sectional studies, with a main focus on (dysfunctional) parental context and how it influences bullying behaviour inside the classroom in adolescent population. The studies collect empirical evidence about the influence of the parental context and how it relates with bullying and other relevant variables in classroom contexts with different methodological approaches. To understand such influence, an ecological framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) is applied to bullying, alongside state of the art research to understand the phenomenon.
Study 1 examines a sample of 2.852 students (46.95% females) with ages between 12 and 17 (M = 13.87, DT = .95) distributed across 25 educational centres in Madrid. The sample is split into two groups those who self-reported physical abuse in the parental context and those who did not. In regards to academic performance, Chi-square analysis were conducted using certain indicators and demonstrated significant differences between those who reported parental maltreatment and those who did not (χ²=13.07) showing low effect sizes (V Cramer=.06). Besides, t-test comparisons were conducted of student’s sociometric data with results indicating significant differences in rejection, lack of acceptance from their peers and number bullying and victimization episodes within classrooms to those students who suffered parental maltreatment. Finally, differences in behavioural traits related with bullying roles showing a tendency to withdrawal and aggression characterised by victim and bully roles respectively to those who report parental maltreatment. On the other hand, the prosocial role favoured to those who did not report parental maltreatment, the effect size for all these differences were small too (d Cohen=-.34 - .38). Results highlight the risk that students who suffer parental maltreatment have in relationship to bullying dynamics, they have higher probabilities to be involved in bullying events, dysfunctional socialisation processes and tendencies to acquire behavioural traits as bully or victim roles inside the classroom.
Study 2 uses the same sample of adolescent students distributed across secondary education courses. It applies multi-level regression models, which allows grouping classrooms for each centre (n=133), hence accounts for the group influence of bullying and interactions that take place between the individual level and classroom levels. Correlation analyses were conducted for all study variables, showing a significant association between behavioural problems and those who were involved in bullying as perpetrators, and also a significant relationship between parental maltreatment, victimization and externalizing behavioural variables in the study, showing small correlations (r < .20). In the multi-level model, bullying and victimization were identified as outcome variables whereas behavioural problems alongside sex and parental maltreatment as predictors at the individual level. In the group level, the average of classroom bullying and the average of classroom victimization were selected as predictors representing classroom climate. The results from the multi-level models showed how sex and parental maltreatment are significant predictors of victimization, while behavioural problems and sex were bullying predictors at the individual level. In reference to the cross-level interactions a moderation effect was found between parental maltreatment and the average classroom bullying when predicting victimization (b = .069, t = 4.44, p < .001). These results indicate that parental maltreatment suffered by the adolescent is related to the acquisition of victim traits in the classroom, this tendency is aggravated when we find high normative levels of bullying within that classroom. In conclusion, as the ecological-transactional model postulates, the vulnerability acquired by adolescents through parental maltreatment transfers to the school context, this demonstrates the influence of the environment in the risk and protective mechanisms that take place in between contexts of the adolescent’s ecology.
Study 3 investigates the influence of the parental context from a more exogenous perspective. It aims to explore the influence of family climate through the adolescent self-report of parental rejection, bullying and victimization, while accounting for normative levels of bullying in the classroom and depression as shared risk factor for bullies and victims. A sample of 1.208 (47.8% females) with ages ranging between 11-18 years (M=13.65, DT=1.295) was collected across 27 public educational centres in Mexico distributed in 45 classrooms. Two 1-1-1 multi-level mediation analysis were conducted to explore the influence of parental rejection as a mediator variable between the relationship amongst bullying and victimization as predictors and depression as an outcome. Multi-level mediation analysis allows us to observe mechanisms in the relationships between dependent and independent variables on two hierarchical levels, the individual level inside of the classroom and the influence of the classroom context when comparing the between classroom level on the analysis. The results show a partial mediation of parental maltreatment in the relationship mechanism between victimization, bullying and depression at the intra-class level, demonstrating a significant indirect effect. At the between-classrooms level, only a significant effect and direct association was found between parental rejection and depression. Results suggest that there are important links between depression and perceived parental support by adolescents. The implications of these findings advocate for the inclusion of the parental context in programs aimed to improve well-being and bullying reduction within schools.
This thesis concludes the appropriateness of ecological frameworks to study the bullying phenomena and its contextual influences. Dysfunctional parental context variables are risk factors associated with bullying dynamics in the classroom. Finally, contextual influences are crucial to understand the phenomenon in complex educational environments in order to evaluate, improve and design anti-bullying programs where parental, school and individual interventions should be integrated.
Keywords: Bullying; victimization; classroom; ecological frameworks; parental context; depression; multi-level regression models.
... The negative impact of bullying on mental health has been extensively documented, with numerous studies highlighting the association between bullying and depression in adolescents [8,9]. One prominent theory is the stress process model, which posits that stressors such as bullying lead to adverse mental health outcomes through the erosion of personal and social resources [10]. ...
... Our findings align with the existing literature that underscores the significant relationship between bullying victimization and depression in adolescents [8,9]. A meta-analysis corroborated that bullied adolescents are significantly 2.77 times more likely to suffer from depression than those who are not bullied [33]. ...
This study explores the mediating role of self-regulation in the relationship between bullying victimization and depressive symptoms among adolescents, considering the moderating effects of gender and region. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted with 3984 adolescents aged 12-18 from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Netherlands. Data were collected via an online survey administered through Qualtrics. The survey included validated measures such as the Illinois Bullying Scale (IBS) to measure bullying victimization, the Adolescent Self-Regulatory Inventory (ASRI) to measure self-regulation, and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) to measure depression. The SPSS macro PROCESS was employed for data analysis, with model 4 used for testing the mediating effects of self-regulation and model 1 for assessing the moderating effects of gender and region. The results demonstrated significant associations between bullying victimization, self-regulation, and depressive symptoms. Self-regulation mediated the positive association between bullying victimization and depression, with notable variations across genders and regions. Specifically, male students in Hong Kong exhibited an increased susceptibility to depression when subjected to bullying. These findings underscore the protective role of self-regulation in mitigating the adverse effects of bullying victimization on adolescent mental health. Implications for interventions and prevention strategies targeting adolescent depression are discussed.
... Existing studies report that bullying victimization was directly associated with suicidal ideation, thoughts, and behaviors in children, adolescents, and adults (Baiden and Tadeo, 2020; Barzilay et al., 2017;Roeger et al., 2010;Romo and Kelvin, 2016;Sampasa-Kanyinga et al., 2014). However, similar to other studies, the Lee et al., (2021) study found that bully victims reported lower self-esteem (Laftman and Modin, 2017;Tsaousis, 2016;van Geel et al., 2018) and depressive symptoms (Averdijk et al., 2011;Sweeting et al., 2006;Zhou et al., 2017). Depressive symptoms, in turn, were positively correlated with hopelessness (Becker-Weidman et al., 2009), which was positively related to suicidal behaviors (Daniel and Goldston, 2012;Horwitz et al., 2017;Kwok and Shek, 2010). ...
... Emotional distress and drug use were both positively associated with suicidal thoughts. This finding was partially consistent with the second hypothesis and prior studies, which reported that bullying victimization is related to an increase in mental health problems (Averdijk et al., 2011;Laftman and Modin, 2017;Sweeting et al., 2006;Tsaousis, 2016;van Geel et al., 2018;Zhou et al., 2017) as well as alcohol and drugs (Baiden and Tadeo, 2019; Turner et al., 2018)-both of which are also positively correlated with suicidal thoughts (Kokkevi et al., 2012;Peltzer and Pengpid, 2015). However, inconsistent with the hypothesis, bullying victimization was not found to be associated with low future orientation and hopelessness. ...
The present study explores the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal thoughts among African American adolescents in urban neighborhoods. The present study, which was guided by the general strain theory, proposed and tested potential pathways that link bullying victimization with suicidal thoughts through the mediators including emotional distress, low future orientation, hopelessness, and drug use. The study sample included 414 African American adolescents who were between ages 12 to 22 and residing in low-income Chicago’s Southside neighborhoods. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation, and path analyses were conducted. Bullying victimization was not significantly related to suicidal thoughts, although it was positively associated with emotional distress and drug use. The association between low future orientation and hopelessness was bidirectional. The study findings have implications for practice, which is important as resources to assist adolescents who are affected by violence are likely to be limited.
... Moreover, the capacity for emotion regulation increases during early childhood (Blandon, Calkins, Keane, & O'Brien, 2008; Lucas-Molina, Quintanilla, Sarmento-Henrique, Babarro, & Gim enez-Das ı, 2020) and middle childhood (Peisch, Dale, Parent, & Burt, 2020), but such developmental changes are not always found in adolescence (Herd, Brieant, King-Casas, & Kim-Spoon, 2022). Bullying victimization, however, shows a consistent pattern of decrease during adolescence (Sweeting, Young, West, & Der, 2006;Wendelborg, 2021). These developmental changes in prevalence make the question of whether there are also developmental changes in the effects of emotion regulation and bullying victimization on ODD symptoms a pertinent one (Aldao et al., 2016), a question of importance for when to implement which type of interventions-a hitherto unaddressed issue. ...
... In line with the existing literature (Ezpeleta et al., 2022;Petitclerc & Tremblay, 2009), symptoms of ODD increased from early childhood until it peaked in middle childhood (age 10) and then waned. Partly in line with existing findings where the prevalence of bullying victimization has been reported to decrease as children enter adolescence (Sweeting et al., 2006;Wendelborg, 2021), our data showed that bullying victimization decreased from age 8 to 10 and remained stable throughout adolescence. The observed increase in emotion regulation in early childhood (age 6-8 years) is in line with previous findings (Blandon et al., 2008;Lucas-Molina et al., 2020), whereas the decrease from age 8 onward is inconsistent with the literature (Herd et al., 2022;Peisch et al., 2020). ...
Background
Childhood oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is associated with adverse outcomes which can continue to impair life well into adulthood. Identifying modifiable etiological factors of ODD is therefore essential. Although bullying victimization and poor emotion regulation are assumed to be risk factors for the development of ODD symptoms, little research has been conducted to test this possibility.
Methods
A sample (n = 1,042) from two birth cohorts of children in the city of Trondheim, Norway, was assessed biennially from age 4 to 14 years. Parents and children (from age 8) were assessed with clinical interviews to determine symptoms of ODD, children reported on their victimization from bullying, and teachers reported on children's emotion regulation.
Results
Oppositional defiant disorder symptoms increased from age 4 to 6, from age 8 to 10, and then started to wane as children entered adolescence. A Random Intercept Cross‐Lagged Panel Model revealed that increased emotion regulation predicted a reduced number of ODD symptoms across development (β = −.15 to −.13, p < .001). This prediction was equally strong for the angry/irritable and argumentative/defiant dimensions of ODD. No longitudinal links were observed between bullying victimization and ODD symptoms.
Conclusions
Improving emotion regulation skills may protect against ODD symptoms throughout childhood and adolescence.
... However, given that all types of bullying victimization arguably thwart the fundamental need to belong, which in and by itself increases the risk for depression (Verhagen et al., 2018), we focus on bullying victimization in general. Studies on overall bullying victimization either portray an increase only among adolescent girls (Wendelborg, 2020), or find no such gender difference in prevalence (Sweeting et al., 2006). In sum, there is no consistent evidence indicating that girls become more exposed to SLEs or bullying victimization than boys just before the onset of the gender difference in depression. ...
... In effect, the increased stress exposure model was not supported. Previous studies have reported mixed evidence for gender differences in the prevalence of or increase in SLEs and bullying victimization in early adolescence, and the current findings coincide with those reporting no gender difference in SLEs (Jenness et al., 2019;Sund et al., 2003) or overall bullying victimization (Sweeting et al., 2006) in early adolescence. The discrepancies between findings may be attributed to a range of methodological and sample differences, including differences in the specific SLEs studied, age of participants, secular period, populations, and nationalities. ...
In the transition from childhood into adolescence, a female preponderance in depression emerges. Despite substantial empirical research to test theoretical propositions as to why this happens, our understanding is still limited. One explanation claims that girls become exposed to more stress (stress exposure model) whereas another proposes that girls become more vulnerable to the impact of stress (stress reactivity model) than boys when entering adolescence. Stressful life events (SLEs) and bullying victimization are established risk factors for adolescent depression. However, whether these factors contribute to the gender difference in depression is undetermined and thus investigated herein. Children (49.9% boys; n = 748) and parents from two birth cohorts in Trondheim, Norway, were followed biennially from ages 8 to 14 with clinical interviews about symptoms of depressive disorders and self-reports on SLEs. Teachers reported on bullying victimization. Prospective associations were investigated using an autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals, examining within-person longitudinal associations while accounting for all time-invariant confounding effects. The number of depressive symptoms increased from ages 12 to 14 among girls. In the period before (ages 10 to 12), girls and boys were equally exposed to SLEs and bullying victimization. Increased stress (both SLEs and bullying victimization) at age 12 predicted increased depression at age 14 more strongly among girls than boys. Hence, increased impact-but not exposure-of SLEs and bullying victimization in girls may partly explain the emerging female preponderance in depression, in line with a stress reactivity model.
... Depression is regarded as not only a consequence of being a victim but also a risk factor for further victimization (Marsh et al., 2016). Indeed, longitudinal evidence from western country studies (e.g., United Kingdom) has demonstrated a reciprocal association between peer victimization and depression in children and adolescents (Sweeting et al., 2006). However, it is unclear if the findings are applicable to Chinese children or adolescents who are living in contexts different from western cultures. ...
... Statistical models to examine reciprocal relationship between peer victimization and depressive symptoms Among statistical models for reciprocal analyses, the cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) is a widely used method in longitudinal research (Guo et al., 2017;Sweeting et al., 2006). However, given that CLPM only examines the prediction of relationships between the means of constructs at each time point, it fails to examine two different sources of variances: the between-person effect and the within-person effect (Hamaker et al., 2015). ...
Peer victimization is detrimental to child mental health. Research has indicated a reciprocal relationship between peer victimization and mental health problems. Yet limited evidence was from children and adolescents in China. The present study used the random intercepts cross‐lagged panel model (RI‐CLPM) to examine both between‐person and within‐person associations between peer victimization and depressive symptoms among Chinese children and adolescents. Participants were 1205 Chinese students (Mage = 11.27 years; ranged from 9 to 15 years; SD = 1.75; 55% boys) who completed four surveys (Time 1 to Time 4) between 2017 and 2019 on demographics, peer victimization, and depressive symptoms. At the between‐person level, peer victimization was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Controlling for between‐person effects, RI‐CLPM suggested positive within‐person effects from peer victimization to depressive symptoms across adjacent waves. The model also suggested a positive within‐person effect from Time 2 depressive symptoms to Time 3 peer victimization. The multi‐group analysis showed that these effects did not differ by gender, age, or subjective socioeconomic status. Peer victimization and depression appear to be reciprocally related at the transitioning period between late childhood and early adolescence in Chinese students. Mental health interventions should attend to peer victimization for children and adolescents in China.
... Phase 1 The first treatment phase, sessions 1 to 4, featured cognitive restructuring and relaxation exercises. Anxiety (Hanish and Guerra 2004), depression (Snyder et al. 2003;Sweeting et al. 2006) and self-blame (Graham et al. 2006) have all been identified as primary internalizing problems, as well as an indicator of maladjustment in pure victims of school bullying (Hanish and Guerra 2002). A recent study also found that these internalising symptoms predicted future victimization (Vaillancourt et al. 2013). ...
... On the other hand, pure victims are associated with internalizing problems (e.g. Hanish and Guerra 2004;Reijntjes et al. 2010;Sweeting et al. 2006). Given the externalizing behaviour of aggressive victims would be more salient during treatment, intervention for general victims would face difficulties in developing safety and sense of belonging within the group. ...
... There is a scarcity of early-childhood information on child-victims of bullying, as more attention has been assigned to bully-perpetrators in the past, but suggestive evidence is accumulating that children who are anxious, shy, reserved, or socially inhibited at the time of entering the peer group are the most frequent targets of bullying victimization [5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Some display exceptional academic or personal assets but lack assertiveness in contesting the aggression [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. All the above observations suggest that early elevated anxiety may be a major contributor to a child becoming a victim of peer bullying-victimization [22]. ...
... It will be important to determine the correlation between the severity of early rituals and behavioral inhibition to social novelty, which of necessity needs a larger sample. Considering the significance of the reduced alpha oscillatory activity in biological mechanisms of anxiety disorders, the analysis of other brain spectral windows, including theta (3-7 Hz) and beta (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) oscillatory activity will be important in a larger sample of participants. Finally, our young adolescent child-victims who do not present currently with clinical OCD symptoms, need to be reevaluated for the presence of OCD symptoms in their young adulthood (ages 20-30) when the risk of second peak-onset of the disease may be expected [83]. ...
Bullying victimization has a profound negative impact on a child’s emotional, social, and cognitive development. Childhood bullying victimization is reported across various social settings, suggesting common characteristics that increase a child’s vulnerability to victimization. It is critical to identify early markers of such vulnerability to design preventative tools. Comprehensive semi-structured clinical interviews from mothers of child-victims and non-engaged control children included assessment of early developmental rituals and behavioral inhibition to social novelty, as potential behavioral correlates of anxiety. Neuropsychological and clinical assessment tools were used, and resting state spectral resting state EEG (rsEEG) was recorded. Increased frequency/severity of early developmental rituals and behaviorally inhibited responses to social novelty were apparent in all child-victims, alongside significantly reduced power of ventral prefrontal brain rsEEG alpha oscillations (8–13 Hz). This triad of findings, in line with prior studies, suggested an elevated early childhood anxiety, which, as current findings indicate, may be a cross-diagnostic marker of increased risk for life-long bullying victimization. Gaining insight into early childhood markers of anxiety may meaningfully complement neuropsychiatric prognosis and preventative efforts.
... Our finding of the relevance of peer problems as a precursor of depressive symptoms is in accordance with prior research highlighting that problems in peer relationships play an important role in the context of depressive psychopathology. For example, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that peer victimization, which is one aspect covered by the SDQ peer problem scale, predicts depressive symptoms in adolescents (e.g., [11,36,37], for a meta-analysis, see [66]). It should be noted that this relationship is bidirectional, as depressive symptoms have also been shown to be an antecedent of victimization in youth [11,36]. ...
... For example, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that peer victimization, which is one aspect covered by the SDQ peer problem scale, predicts depressive symptoms in adolescents (e.g., [11,36,37], for a meta-analysis, see [66]). It should be noted that this relationship is bidirectional, as depressive symptoms have also been shown to be an antecedent of victimization in youth [11,36]. Given this bidirectionality, one factor which might influence the longitudinal association between peer problems and subsequent depressive symptoms is the severity of depressive symptoms during or prior to the time peer problems were evident (for conflicting results, see [37]). ...
Introduction
Depressive symptoms are highly prevalent in adolescence, highlighting the need for early identification of precursors. Research into psychopathological symptoms predicting depressive psychopathology in adolescents is therefore of great relevance. Moreover, given that the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in adolescence shows marked differences between girls and boys, insight into potential sex-specific differences in precursors is important.
Methods
This study examined the relationships between emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer problems, and difficulties in prosocial behaviour at age 10 (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), and the presence of depressive symptoms at age 15 (Depression Screener for Teenagers). Using data from 2824 participants of the GINIplus and LISA birth cohorts, the association of each SDQ subscale at age 10 years with the presence of depressive symptoms at age 15 years was analyzed using sex-specific logistic regression, adjusting for potential confounders.
Results
Emotional problems [odds ratio (OR) 1.99, p = 0.002 for boys and OR 1.77, p < 0.001 for girls] and peer problems (OR 2.62, p < 0.001 for boys, OR 1.91, p = 0.001 for girls) at age 10 showed an increased risk for the presence of depressive symptoms at age 15. Additionally, boys with conduct problems at age 10 were at greater risk of showing depressive symptoms in adolescence (OR 2.50, p < 0.001).
Discussion
Based on the identified prospective relationships in our study, it might be of particular importance to tailor prevention approaches during childhood to peer and emotional problems to reduce the risk of depressive psychopathology in adolescence. Moreover, particularly in boys, it seems important to also target conduct problems in childhood as a precursor of depressive symptoms in the adolescent period.
... Other well-established measures are the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Zigmond and Snaith, 1983), the Visual Analogue Thermometer (Donovan et al., 2014), and especially the Kessler-10 Psychological Distress Scale (Kessler et al., 2010), which has been extensively used in surveys with children and adolescents (Smout, 2018). The results derived from these measures reveal that risk factors among adolescents include being the victim of bullying and peer victimization (Beeri and Lev-Wiesel, 2011;Holt and Espelage, 2007;Jiang, 2020;Sweeting et al., 2006), having to take on responsibilities that are normally those of adults (Sacker and Cable, 2009), prolonged educational difficulties (Panicker and Chelliah, 2016), living in poverty (Evans and English, 2002) and suffering from a long-term physical condition (Compas et al., 2012;Pinquart et al., 2011). ...
... Among the limitations of this study are those related to the instrument used, the questionnaire. The operationalization of psychological distress used in this study integrated four relevant symptoms (feeling sad, stressed, and the reverse-coded measures of calm and full of energy), but other symptoms not recorded in the questionnaire might be involved, like feelings of loneliness (Sweeting et al., 2006) or suicidal intentions (Tian et al., 2021). Accordingly, it should be stressed that the outcome variable in our model is rather a "nonspecific measure of distress" (Dohrenwend et al., 1980(Dohrenwend et al., , p. 1229. ...
Rationale
Symptoms of psychological distress at an early age have proved to undermine adolescents' academic achievements, as well as their personal and social well-being. The literature acknowledges a wide range of risk factors that cause psychological distress, while at the same time emphasizing the role of social support as a protective factor. On the other hand, feelings of unsafety as a possible source of psychological distress have been so far largely overlooked in the literature.
Objective
The present study explores the consequences of a specific stressor (feeling unsafe) and asks whether social support can act as a moderator in the association between subjective unsafety and psychological distress.
Methods
A multi-group structural equation model was run with a sample of 2876 young adolescents aged 10–12 enrolled in educational centers in the city of Barcelona, Spain.
Results
The results show that direct exposure to sibling violence at home and bullying at school are significant predictors of psychological distress, regardless of biological sex. The hypothesis of a negative correlation of subjective perceptions of unsafety on psychological distress is also supported, although neighborhood-based risk factors emerge as a greater source of distress for females than for males. The involvement of supportive adults is associated with lower levels of perceptions of unsafety and distress in both groups, but girls seem capable of drawing more effectively on alternative sources of support, specifically their peers, to enhance their safety at school and in the neighborhood.
Conclusion
Overall, gender differences in our model overlap with socio-environmental inequalities (low income, exposure to violence and conflictual public spaces), thus suggesting that an intervention into the root causes of these inequalities could contribute to lowering psychological distress in early adolescence.
... Both issues affect adolescents' academic performance (Buhs and Ladd, 2001;Savolainen et al., 2008), social-emotional development (Davis et al., 1999;Morrow et al., 2019), and mental health (Finkelhor et al., 2007;Boyes et al., 2018). Adolescents who experience peer victimization often struggle with internalizing symptoms of anxiety and depression (Sheppard et al., 2019;Sweeting et al., 2006), which can impact their ability to learn (Zychinski and Polo, 2012). Similarly, adolescents who struggle with literacy may experience emotional distress and low self-confidence (Arnold et al., 2005;Lee and Jonson-Reid, 2016), hindering academic success (Hwang et al., 2016;Pedersen et al., 2019) and limiting social interactions (Connolly, 1989;Salavera et al., 2019). ...
Peer victimization and literacy failure are on the rise. Yet, there is little understanding of their interplay, particularly during adolescence–a period of heightened sensitivity to social–emotional and academic maladjustment. Guided by the Developmental Cascades Framework, this systematic literature review elucidated how peer victimization and literacy are directly and indirectly linked via negative behaviors, sex, and grade. A total of 21 studies were published between 1993 and 2022 that focused on typically developing 5th- to 8th-graders. Sample sizes ranged from 140 to 86,372 participants. Results indicated a bidirectional connection between increased peer victimization and poorer literacy. Preliminary evidence was found in support of an indirect link via internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and school engagement, but ambiguous support for the effect of sex. Taken together, adolescents who experience peer victimization are likely to struggle in literacy, as well as exhibit negative behaviors that may only serve to exacerbate this connection.
... Individuals with low self-control are more likely to develop depression (Zeng et al., 2018) and aggressive behaviors (Osgood & Muraven, 2016) when they are not capable of effectively regulating adverse events in their lives. Individuals who are depressed often fail to take appropriate counter-attack behaviors or implement effective self-protection strategies when provoked or violated by their peers (Sweeting et al., 2006). Meanwhile, they are more susceptible to being victimized by their peers. ...
Childhood abuse experiences are risk factor for peer victimization. However, the process by which childhood abuse experiences influence peer victimization remains less clear. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of self-control, depression, and aggression in childhood abuse experiences and peer victimization. Using Childhood Abuse Questionnaire, Peer Victimization Questionnaire, Self-Control Questionnaire, and Problematic Behavior Questionnaire, 1521 Chinese adolescents (901 girls, 620 boys, average age = 14.74 ± 1.55) who had experienced abuse in childhood participated in this survey. Structural equation modeling showed that self-control, aggression, and depression were mediators between childhood abuse experiences and peer victimization. Specifically, self-control, aggression, and depression acted as separate mediators. Additionally, there were two other pathways: the chain mediating effect of self-control and aggression, and the chain mediating effect of self-control and depression. This study enriches relevant research in peer victimization and provides a theoretical basis for understanding the impact of childhood abuse experiences on peer victimization.
... It is a worldwide problem [22] that negatively impacts both physical [23,24] and mental [25][26][27][28] health. A meta-analysis of 165 studies in youth suggested possible causal associations between bullying and several mental and behavioral health difficulties, including substance use, anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behaviors [29]. ...
... Moreover, bullying is a greater challenge for primary school students and junior high school students than the older ones in Japan: for all recognized school bullying cases, 79.1% of them occurred in primary schools, followed by 17.4% for junior high schools (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2020, p. 2). Being victimized at this age could cause depression (Murayama et al., 2015;Sweeting et al., 2006), especially for adolescents in the development stage of establishing peer relationships. A recent largescale longitudinal study has also demonstrated a causal relationship between almost all forms of victimization (i.e., physical, verbal, and relational) and later depression (Brunstein-Klomek et al., 2019). ...
This study used latent class analysis to explore the diverse nature of school bullying, the adverse psychological effects, and the efficacy of coping strategies performed by the targets who experienced various types of bullying. Of the Japanese students, 39,167 (19,167 girls) from fourth to ninth grade participated in our study. The findings revealed a five-class structure of school bullying and demonstrated its different correlations with depression and the efficacy of coping strategies. Most of the targets of severe school bullying were at a high risk of developing a depressive disorder and losing their will to resist, while the others who attempted to cope achieved little success. In addition, this study also found a preference for using specific coping strategies for different types of school bullying. These results demonstrated a critical situation for Japanese students and re-emphasized the urgency of early intervention for school bullying.
... Although associations between emotional difficulties and peer victimization are well established, fewer studies have examined the longitudinal bidirectional paths between these variables. In youth samples, studies have found bidirectional longitudinal pathways between peer victimization and internalizing problems, anxiety, and depression (e.g., Cho et al., 2022;Forbes et al., 2019;Hodges & Perry, 1999;Sweeting et al., 2006). However, these studies have primarily focused on internalizing concerns (i.e., anxiety, depression), without considering broader emotional and transdiagnostic variables (e.g., irritability, emotion dysregulation, emotion coping), which are implicated across the development and maintenance of youth mental health disorders more broadly. ...
Children who are victimized by their peers are at increased risk of developing emotional difficulties and disorders (e.g., mental health diagnoses); conversely, children experiencing emotional difficulties may also be more likely to experience peer victimization. Sleep quality could serve as a protective buffer or risk factor in these longitudinal associations. In the present study, we examined bidirectional pathways between peer victimization and emotional difficulties, testing sleep quality as a potential moderator. Children (N = 293 ages 8–11; 52% girls) in grades 3–5 completed measures of emotional difficulties (anxiety, depression, irritability, emotion coping, and emotion dysregulation), peer victimization, and sleep quality in the fall (T1) and spring (T2) semesters of one school year. Path models, controlling for covariates and stabilities, showed that peer victimization at T1 predicted higher levels of anxiety, depression, irritability, and poor emotion coping at T2. Sleep quality moderated one path: the link between T1 peer victimization and T2 emotion dysregulation, which was positive and significant only among those with high sleep quality; those with low sleep quality at T1 showed moderate levels of dysregulation irrespective of victimization. Longitudinal paths from T1 emotional difficulties to T2 victimization were all nonsignificant. Model results were not moderated by grade or gender. Overall, results support the unidirectional conclusion that peer victimization contributes to various forms of emotional difficulties, but not vice versa. Sleep quality is relevant as a moderator, underscoring the need for further research. Findings suggest implications for prevention and intervention efforts to promote social-emotional development in school settings.
... De hecho, sufrir acoso se considera uno de los principales factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de problemas psicoló-gicos y sintomatología psicopatológica tanto en la niñez y la adolescencia como en la edad adulta. En concreto, ser víctima de acoso aumenta el riesgo de padecer dificultades académicas (Schwartz et al., 2005), ansiedad (Coelho y Romao, 2018), síntomas psicosomáticos como insomnio o dolor de cabeza (Natvig et al., 2001), sintomatología depresiva (Brunstein Klomek et al., 2019;Sweeting et al., 2006), autolesiones e ideación suicida (Bang y Park, 2017;Obando et al., 2018;Pedreira-Massa, 2019), psico-sis (Bang y Park, 2017), trastornos de la conducta alimentaria (Lie et al., 2019) y trastorno por estrés postraumático (Houbre et al., 2006). Asimismo, las víctimas tienden a mostrar un peor ajuste emocional (Khatri et al., 2000) y una autoestima más baja, especialmente en el ámbito social (Estévez et al., 2009;Kowalski y Limber, 2013). ...
Bullying is a serious psychosocial problem that impacts negatively on victims, and it is one of the main risk factors for the development of psychological problems and psychopathological symptoms in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. This study analyzes the mediating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between bullying victimization and the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms. The sample comprised 550 children and adolescents (56.5% women) aged between 10 and 17 years (M = 12.20; SD = 1.75) from the Basque Country, each of whom completed a battery of instruments consisting of a sociodemographic variables data sheet, a questionnaire for evaluating peer victimization, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Educational-Clinical Questionnaire: Anxiety and Depression. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that bullying victimization is a risk factor for developing anxiety and depression in childhood and adolescence, and also that the relationship between bullying victimization and these two emotional problems is mediated by self-esteem. This mediating effect of self-esteem is especially important in the case of depression, insofar as the effect of bullying victimization on depression is greater when mediated by self-esteem. The implications of the results are discussed, both for the field of educational psychology and in in relation to the psychological wellbeing of children and adolescents.
... De hecho, sufrir acoso se considera uno de los principales factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de problemas psicoló-gicos y sintomatología psicopatológica tanto en la niñez y la adolescencia como en la edad adulta. En concreto, ser víctima de acoso aumenta el riesgo de padecer dificultades académicas (Schwartz et al., 2005), ansiedad (Coelho y Romao, 2018), síntomas psicosomáticos como insomnio o dolor de cabeza (Natvig et al., 2001), sintomatología depresiva (Brunstein Klomek et al., 2019;Sweeting et al., 2006), autolesiones e ideación suicida (Bang y Park, 2017;Obando et al., 2018;Pedreira-Massa, 2019), psico-sis (Bang y Park, 2017), trastornos de la conducta alimentaria (Lie et al., 2019) y trastorno por estrés postraumático (Houbre et al., 2006). Asimismo, las víctimas tienden a mostrar un peor ajuste emocional (Khatri et al., 2000) y una autoestima más baja, especialmente en el ámbito social (Estévez et al., 2009;Kowalski y Limber, 2013). ...
Resumen
El bullying constituye un problema psicosocial muy grave que conlleva consecuencias negativas, siendo uno de los principales factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de problemas psicológicos y sintomatología psicopatológica tanto en la niñez y la adolescencia como en la edad adulta. En el presente estudio se pretende analizar el efecto mediador de la autoestima en la relación entre padecer acoso y desarrollar síntomas ansiosos y depresivos. Han participado 550 niños y niñas y adolescentes (56.5% mujeres) de entre 10 y 17 años (M = 12.20, DT = 1.75) de la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, que han cumplimentado una batería de instrumentos compuesta por un cuestionario de variables sociodemográficas, un cuestionario para la evaluación de la victimización escolar, la escala para la medición de la autoestima de Rosenberg y el cuestionario Educativo-Clínico: Ansiedad y Depresión. Los resultados de los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales reflejan, por un lado, que sufrir bullying es un factor de riesgo para desarrollar ansiedad y depresión en la niñez y en la adolescencia. Por otro lado, confirman que la autoestima es una variable que media la relación entre el bullying y ambos problemas emocionales. Esta acción mediadora de la autoestima resulta de gran relevancia en el caso de la depresión, dado que el efecto que tiene el bullying sobre la depresión aumenta cuando está mediatizado por la autoestima. Se discuten las implicaciones de los resultados, tanto en el ámbito de la psicología educativa, como en el ámbito del bienestar psicológico de niños y niñas y adolescentes.
... The studies with the most extended follow-up gave the most substantial support for our hypothesis [27,30,31]. In studies of adolescents, emotional symptoms may be more stable over time than bullying victimisation, which reduces the predictability of bullying victimisation over time [53]. Perhaps earlier MHP have more time to affect development than later symptoms, which would fit with the developmental, transactional theory [5]. ...
Having both a disability and being bullied increases the risk of later mental health issues. Children with disabilities are at greater risk of being bullied and therefore at greater risk of adverse mental health outcomes. We conducted a limited systematic review of longitudinal studies focusing on the role of disability in relation to bullying and mental health problems. Twelve studies with an initial measure of mental health or disorder, measured no later than 10 years of age, were found. Ten of these twelve studies suggested that having a disability before victimisation increased the impact of mental health problems measured after bullying experiences. The conclusion is that children with a disability, such as behavioural problems, have an increased risk of later mental health problems through bullying victimization. Children with two risk factors had significantly worse mental health outcomes. These additional mental health problems may be alleviated through reduced bullying victimisation.
... For example, depression and victimization have significant bidirectional relationships among children aged 10~13 years. At age 15 years, depression precedes rather than follows victimization among boys (Forbes et al., 2019;Sweeting et al., 2006). Further, protective attributes, such as self-esteem, sense of autonomy, emotional regulation, and resilience, are correlated with reduced peer victimization. ...
Extensive research has focused on the critical effect of parent-child interactions on peer victimization among children. However, the underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms of this association remain largely unknown. Thus, we examine whether parent-child relationships predict peer victimization through self-esteem and whether resilience moderates this mediation process. A sample of 65,868 fourth grade students aged 8-14 years (10.83 ± 0.83, 53.6% males) completed questionnaires assessing their parent-child relationships, self-esteem, resilience, and peer victimization. A moderated mediation model analysis showed that the negative associations between parent-child interactions and peer victimization were partially mediated by self-esteem. Resilience moderated the meditation process and all three mediated paths were stronger for children with high (vs. low) resilience. High resilience has adequate protection against peer victimization among children. Our findings indicate that poor parent-child relationships, low resilience and low self-esteem are all risk factors for increased levels of peer victimization among children. Resilience is underscored as a crucial protective factor, which could prevent the onset and exacerbation of peer victimization, while low self-esteem is also an important predictor of peer victimization originating from poor parent-child relationships. Thus, internal factors (such as resilience, and self-esteem) cultivated among children, but not external ones, may play key roles in intervening of peer victimization. The positive effects of family support should also be considered when developing intervention strategies to promote self-esteem among children being bullied at school.
... Accordingly, peers may perceive boys' expressions of vulnerable emotions as non-normative and thereby target them with maltreatment (Erath et al., 2007;Oransky & Marecek, 2009). In support of this, for adolescent boys, depressive symptoms relate to increases in peer victimization (Sweeting et al., 2006). Thus, both secondary control engaged coping and disengaged coping may prevent expressions of vulnerable emotions and thereby reduce risk for subsequent peer victimization among victimized boys (Visconti & Troop-Gordon, 2010). ...
Stress coping theories suggest that the effectiveness of coping depends on the level of stress experienced. Existing research shows that efforts to cope with high levels of peer victimization may not prevent subsequent peer victimization. Additionally, associations between coping and peer victimization often differ between boys and girls. The present study included 242 participants (51% girls; 34% Black, 65% White; Mage = 15.75 years). Adolescents reported on coping with peer stress at age 16 and on overt and relational peer victimization at ages 16 and 17. Greater use of primary control engaged coping (e.g., problem‐solving) was associated positively with overt peer victimization for boys with higher initial overt victimization. Primary control coping was also associated positively with relational victimization regardless of gender or initial relational peer victimization. Secondary control coping (e.g., cognitive distancing) was associated negatively with overt peer victimization. Secondary control coping was also associated negatively with relational victimization for boys. Greater use of disengaged coping (e.g., avoidance) was associated positively with overt and relational peer victimization for girls with higher initial victimization. Gender differences and the context and level of stress should be considered in future research and interventions related to coping with peer stress.
... Bullying can lead to long-term consequences such as depression and suicidal behaviour for both victims and perpetrators [3][4][5][6] . Witnessing bullying is also associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and substance use 7 . ...
Schools implement bullying prevention programs without clearly knowing whether a program will provide good value for their limited human and capital resources. This “Bullying Prevention Programs for Children and Youth Toolkit” has been created to help schools and other organizations working with youth evaluate bullying programs with respect to effectiveness, cost, and ‘fit’ with their particular context.
We reviewed bullying prevention programs used in some Nova Scotia schools as well as others identified in a search of scientific literature. Reviewed programs had at least one controlled study published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, were focussed on reducing bullying or aggression, and were ‘universal’ in scope, with at least some program features addressing schools and organizations as a whole. We evaluated the evidence for program effects objectively and transparently using a rigorous structured approach called GRADE. GRADE allows only four recommendations for program implementation: 1) Strong recommendation for a program; 2) Weak (also called Provisional) recommendation for a program; 3) Weak recommendation against a program; 4) Strong recommendation against a program.
Only one of the reviewed programs received a recommendation (weak) for implementation: the WITS program. WITS delivered relatively strong effects at low cost and showed long-term benefits. It also has components that promote healthy relationships. All other programs received weak recommendations against implementation, largely because they were resource-intensive yet delivered little or no reduction in bullying or victimization, or were not feasible in a North American environment.
Most studies of bullying interventions are conducted in a way that casts doubt on their conclusions. Therefore, no program received a strong recommendation. A weak recommendation should not prevent a program from being used in a particular setting. However, it implies that the impact of a program in a new setting should be carefully measured to ensure that precious resources are not being wasted. The insufficient evidence for most programs, the high direct and opportunity costs that come with implementation, and the need to implement for several years before benefits accrue should compel organizations to carefully assess whether or not a program works in their setting.
There are many possible reasons why most bullying prevention programs show limited effectiveness. First, research studies typically only examine a small number of students across one or a few schools, when much larger samples may be required to detect effects reliably. Second, bullying is an intentional act, and structured programs may not address the internal and external factors leading some people to bully. Third, bullying prevention interventions are complex with different roles for students, teachers, other school staff, families and communities. It is difficult for complex and dynamic organizations like schools to implement programs in the exact manner intended by program creators, and to some extent, such ‘fidelity’ is at odds with the role of teachers as professionals trained to design and modify their own curricula to meet specific
goals. Fourth, there are many factors that affect bullying (e.g., school climate, the quality of relationships within the school, and the presence or absence of a dedicated anti-bullying champion), and a program may not address all the important causes.
The authors believe that the priority for most organizations is to focus on developing assets in youth such as social and emotional skills, building positive organizational climates and promoting healthy relationships. There may be a place for a program focused primarily on bullying prevention once those priorities are addressed. Note that there will always be a place for strategies that target high risk individuals or groups as
no program applied to an entire school or organization will prevent all individuals from bullying others.
... The 1-year time lag employed here has been proposed to contribute notably in the study of cross lagged effects in middle-aged students (Sweeting et al., 2006). However, a one such long-time interval may overlook meaningful shortterm changes in constructs under study (see McGrath et al., 2012). ...
Anger rumination is a maladaptive cognitive-emotional process associated with aversive adjustment outcomes. Despite of evidence showing a close relationship between anger rumination and depressive symptoms across adolescence, their longitudinal relationship is still unknown. The goal of the present study was to examine the bidirectional association between self-reported anger rumination and depressive symptoms at two waves, spaced 1-year. Participants were 304 early adolescents (44.7% boys; Mage = 10.80 years, SD = 0.16). Cross-lagged analyses showed that depressive symptoms predicted increases in anger rumination but not vice versa. These relationships were consistent across boys and girls. Overall, the findings suggest that depressive symptoms may be a potential risk factor for anger rumination in early adolescence. Implications for preventions and treatments are also discussed.
... Subsequently, higher levels of peer relationships were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. The results coincide with previous studies that have found inattention as a significant predictor of youths' peer relationships (Maedgen and Carlson, 2000;Hoza, 2007;Mikami et al., 2007), and those that have reported significant associations between peer relationships and depression (Sweeting et al., 2006;Bernaras et al., 2013;Platt et al., 2013). Youths who demonstrate inattentive behavior also show impairment in their social skills (Maedgen and Carlson, 2000;Blackman et al., 2005;Humphreys et al., 2016) and peer relationships (Hoza et al., 2005b;Mrug et al., 2007). ...
This study investigated the developmental trajectory of inattention symptoms as a predictor of later depressive symptoms in adolescence, and examined potential mediating role of peer relationships in this process. Participants were adolescents who were part of the large longitudinal panel study on Korean Youths, Korean Children & Youth Panel Survey 2010 (KCYPS 2010) of the National Youth Policy Institute (NYPI). Specifically, data were drawn from two cohorts of KCYPS that differed in participant age (Panel 1: 2003 birth cohort, n = 2,342, 48.2% girls; Panel 2: 2000 birth cohorts, n = 2,378, 40.0% girls). We analyzed data collected from 2010 to 2016 when children in panel 1 were 6–7 to 12–13 years old, and children in panel 2 were 9–10 to 15–16 years old. Results of latent growth modeling (LGM) were as follows. In Panel 1, the inattention symptoms increased from 9–10 to 12–13 years. Otherwise, the inattention symptoms decreased from 11–12 to 15–16 years in panel 2. Additionally, in both panels, initial status and slope of inattention significantly predicted later levels of depressive symptoms, and peer relationships partly mediated the association between inattention trajectory and depressive symptoms. The findings are discussed with respect to considering the growth of inattention and the quality of peer relationships as promising targets for early identification and intervention of depression in adolescents.
... Several other authors have addressed the issue of ostracization (Eisenberger 2003;Forgas et al. 2005;MacDonald and Leary 2005;Sweeting et al. 2006), but invariably do so from the perspective of the serious consequences for the ostracized. Girard in contrast focused on the effect on those doing the ostracizing, claiming that the human propensity for spontaneous victimization provided the framework for generating communal unanimity founded upon a shared sacred meaning. ...
According to anthropological philosopher René Girard (1923-2015), an important human adaptation is our propensity to victimize or scapegoat. He argued that other traits upon which human sociality depends would have destabilized primate dominance-based social hierarchies, making conspecific conflict a limiting factor in hominin evolution. He surmised that a novel mechanism for inhibiting intragroup conflict must have emerged contemporaneously with our social traits, and speculated that this was the tendency to spontaneously unite around the victimization of single individuals. He described an unconscious tendency to both ascribe blame and to imbue the accused with a sacred mystique. This emotionally cathartic scapegoat mechanism, he claimed, enhanced social cohesion, and was the origin of religion, mythology, sacrifice, ritual, cultural institutions, and social norms. It would have functioned by modifying the beliefs and behaviors of the group, rather than of the accused, making the act of accusation more important than the substance. This article aims to examine the empirical evidence for Girard's claims, and argues that the scapegoat hypothesis has commonalities with several other evolutionary hypotheses, including Wrangham's execution hypothesis on self-domestication, Dunbar's hypothesis on the role of storytelling in maintaining group stability, and DeScioli and Kurzban's hypothesis on the role of non-consequentialist morality in curtailing conflict. Potential implications of the scapegoat hypothesis for evolutionary psychology and psychiatry are discussed.
... [17][18][19] Further, evidence suggests that peer victimization during youth is associated with increased risk for psychological distress and suicidality over time. 18,[20][21][22][23] Research on the impact of peer bully victimization and health risk behaviors in young people has also been emerging suggesting that bullied youth are more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as smoking and drinking over time. In a national sample of U.S. high school students (N = 74,247), those who were victims of bullying were more likely to use substances (cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana) than those involved (i.e., bullies) and uninvolved in bullying. ...
Peer victimization during high school is a common experience associated with engagement in risky health behaviors and elevated depressive symptoms. Mechanisms linking peer victimization to health outcomes remain inadequately understood. In the current study, latent class analysis was used to identify latent subclasses of college students who display similar patterns of responses to frequent peer victimization experiences during high school. We also examined moderating and mediating effects of coping (approach/avoidance) on relationships between victimization class and health outcomes (i.e., binge drinking, current smoking, depressive symptoms). College students completed questionnaire measures of peer victimization, approach and avoidance coping, binge drinking, smoking, and depressive symptoms. Four distinct patterns of peer victimization were identified among college students (Low, High, Moderate, and Social/Verbal). Moderation models revealed significant interactions of moderate victimization x approach coping on depressive symptoms and high victimization x avoidance coping on binge drinking. Mediation models revealed a significant indirect effect of avoidance coping on depressive symptoms for those in the high victimization class. Findings provide a greater understanding of the complex patterns of peer victimization. Coping efforts among varying peer victimization classes had different relationships with health outcomes during the college years. Interventions aimed at reducing health-risk and depressive symptoms among college student might benefit from increased attention to high school victimization experiences and current coping processes.
Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2021.1946468 .
Our research highlights that bullying victimization is a significant public health concern. In a sample of Finnish adolescents, we found that those who experienced bullying were significantly more likely to use primary mental health care services five years later. Furthermore, our findings indicate that depressive symptoms at the initial stage acted as a mediator between bullying victimization and later use of mental health services.
These results underscore the need for effective anti-bullying measures and support systems for victims to prevent the future strain on mental health care services.
This study aims to examine co‐occurrence patterns of depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents and their associations with various forms of peer victimization. We collected longitudinal data from 1005 middle school students using the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory. Then we conducted latent profile analysis, latent transition analysis, and logistic regression analysis. The results reveal the presence of three depression‐anxiety profiles among participants: low depression‐anxiety group, moderate depression‐anxiety group, and high depression‐anxiety group. As verbal and relational victimization increase, adolescents are more likely to transition to a higher level of depression‐anxiety profile. However, an increase in physical and property victimization predicts a transition to a lower level of depression‐anxiety profile. The diverse effects resulting from different forms of victimization exhibit gender differences. For boys, an increase in relational victimization made participants in the moderate depression‐anxiety group more likely to transition to the high depression‐anxiety group, whereas this effect was not significant among girls. This study is theoretically significant for understanding the link between depression, anxiety, and their influencing factors. It suggests that educators, while addressing verbal and relational harm in adolescents, should reconsider the potential impact of physical and property harm. Opportunities to transform negative events into positive ones should be explored. Educators should tailor their focus based on gender, with a particular emphasis on addressing relational harm among male students. This underscores the need for differentiated approaches to effectively support students.
The relationships between peer bullying victimization in adolescence and substance use have been poorly studied. Thus, we examined the associations between peer bullying victimization and tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use in 496 French high school students. Peer bullying victimization was measured with a 17-item standardized assessment and analyzed as quartiles. Tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use were assessed with the Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (HONC), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) and the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST), respectively. Total scores at the HONC (0 to 10), AUDIT-C (0 to 12), and CAST (0 to 24) were used as dependent variables in generalized linear models, adjusting for sex, age, prepared graduation, last school marks and friends outside high school. Compared to the first quartile (i.e., the least bullied students), those from the second, third and fourth quartiles had significant increase of the AUDIT-C (B = 0.78 [95%CI 0.17-1.40] with p = 0.013; B = 0.86 [95%CI 0.26;1.46] with p = 0.005 and B = 1.00 [95%CI 0.38;1.62] with p = 0.002, respectively), with dose-dependent relationships (B = 0.33 ([95%CI 0.13; 0.52] with p = 0.001). Those from the fourth quartile had a significant increase of the CAST (B = 2.13[95%CI 1.25;3.01], p < 0.001). When examining the role of peer bullying victimization on the number of substances used, there were significant increased odds for students from the third and fourth quartiles, with dose-dependent relationships (OR = 1.24 [95% CI 1.07;1.44], p = 0.005). These findings encourage paying a particular attention to substance use in students who report being bullied. Consequently, information and prevention using standardized screening tools should be proposed. Conversely, substance use could be an indicator of peer bullying victimization and should thus be explored.
Objective:
Internalizing problems are common in adolescence and increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although rates of anxiety and depression have since improved, the general increase in the prevalence of mental health problems and disruptions to mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in huge gaps in care. Although research has primarily focused on proximal correlates of internalizing problems, a growing literature suggests that factors outside youths' immediate microsystems are equally crucial for their mental well-being. Thus, it is important to investigate multisystemic correlates of internalizing problems to inform individual and community-based interventions to address the current mental health burden.
Method:
Leveraging secondary data from a nationally diverse U.S. sample of 2,954 adolescents (ages 13-16), we examined the associations between factors at multiple levels of youths' ecologies - spanning indicators of threat and deprivation - and their depression and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, in follow-up exploratory analyses, we examined if these associations differed by adolescents' racial/ethnic groups.
Results:
Consistent with socioecological models, we found that indicators of threat and deprivation in the adolescents' immediate home and more distal neighborhood environments were associated with depression and anxiety symptoms. The patterns of associations were similar across racial/ethnic groups in multigroup structural equation models. Additionally, we found that mean levels of internalizing symptoms and socioecological predictors significantly differed across racial/ethnic groups.
Conclusion:
These findings have important implications for understanding multi-level contributors to adolescent mental health, which may inform research, practice, and policy.
Historically, prevention in psychology has never been outright objectionable for mental health professionals. However, despite its acceptance, not enough practitioners engage in prevention and wellness promotion in their daily activities. The Oxford Handbook of Prevention in Counseling Psychology offers the foundational knowledge necessary to engage in successful prevention and wellness promotion with clients across the lifespan. Written from a counseling psychology perspective, this book presents an approach to prevention that emphasizes strengths of individuals and communities, integrates multicultural and social justice perspectives, and includes best practices in the prevention of a variety of psychological problems in particular populations. Assembling articles into four comprehensive sections, this book provides expert coverage on the following: fundamental aspects of prevention research and practice (i.e. the history of prevention, best practice guidelines, ethics, and evaluation); relevant topics such as bullying, substance abuse, suicide, school dropout, disordered eating, and intimate partner violence; the promotion of wellness and adaptation in specific populations and environments, providing findings on increasing college retention rates, fostering healthy identity development, promoting wellness in returning veterans, and eliminating heterosexism and racism; and the future of prevention, training, the intersection of critical psychology and prevention, and the importance of advocacy.
Background:
Depression among children has been a growing public health concern. It is generally recognized that individuals with depression are likely to have interpersonal malfunctioning. However, there remains a limited scientific understanding of the reciprocal relationship between interpersonal communication and depressive symptoms among rural Chinese children in a longitudinal approach.
Methods:
Therefore, guided by the interpersonal model of depression and the developmental cascade model, the present study conducted a cross-lagged panel analysis study to explore the bidirectional relationship between interpersonal communication and depressive symptoms across three waves among 2188 elementary school students in rural areas of one county of Gansu Province, China. We also examined the mediating effect of resilience and sex differences of the models.
Results:
Our results showed that depressive symptoms negatively predicted interpersonal communication from T1 to T2 and T2 to T3. Interpersonal communication negatively predicted depressive symptoms from T1 to T2, but not T2 to T3. Furthermore, resilience showed significant partial mediating effects in the reciprocal relationship between interpersonal communication and depressive symptoms. In terms of sex differences, the significant relationship between depressive symptoms at T1 and interpersonal communication at T2 was found to be significant among male students and marginally significant among female students. The full mediating effect of resilience at T1 was found only among male students, whereas resilience at T2 functioned as a full mediator between depressive symptoms at T2 and interpersonal communication at T3 only among female students.
Limitations:
First, the present sample consisted of only third and fourth grade (i.e., in T1) students from one county in rural China. Second, the present study examined depressive symptoms instead of depression as a clinical diagnosis. Third, the third wave of the data was collected during COVID-19. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could unexpectedly pose on child mental health.
Conclusions:
The finding underlined the importance of providing comprehensive depression prevention and intervention from fostering children's inner resilience and promoting their ability to navigate interpersonal resources.
Developmental risk refers to conditions, characteristics, experiences, or situations with potentially deleterious effects that lead to outcomes later in life that do not meet societal expectations. While risk is typically framed as the statistical probability of a problematic outcome in relation to the general population, the converse notion of well-being is considered in relation to the level of functioning at a given developmental stage. The contributors to this volume provide insight into developmental well-being by examining the ways that culture and context affect outcomes associated with various types of risk, such as those related to oppression, academic performance, family background, life history, physical health, and psychiatric conditions. Even though certain outcomes may seem inevitable in cases involving harmful environments, diseases, and disorders, they are virtually all influenced by complex interactions among individuals, their families, communities, and societies.
The goal of this study was to explore longitudinal associations between preference for solitude (PFS) and depressive symptoms among early adolescents in mainland China, with a focus on separating between-person and within-person effects using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM). Participants were N = 1039 Chinese early adolescents ( M age = 12.37, 46.1% girls, at Time 1), who completed annual self-reports of depressive symptoms and peer-nominations of PFS over a 3-years period. Results revealed that fluctuations in depressive symptoms consistently predicted fluctuations in PFS 1 year later, but not vice versa, supporting a symptoms-driven model. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of depressive symptoms in promoting subsequent PFS among early adolescents.
Parenting practices and relationships with peers are crucial aspects of youth socialization. Although theoretically expected reciprocal associations between changes in maladaptive parenting and adolescent peer victimization exist, there is a lack of studies that examine this link and address the mediating mechanisms at the within-person level. This longitudinal study examined reciprocal relations between peer victimization and two types of maladaptive parenting including harsh punishment and psychological control, and the potential mediating roles of internalizing and externalizing problems within these relations, by disentangling between- and within-person effects. A total of 4,731 Chinese early adolescents (44.9% girls; M age = 10.91 years, SD = 0.72) participated in a four-wave longitudinal study with 6-month intervals. The results of random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling showed: (a) harsh punishment did not directly predict peer victimization, and vice versa; (b) psychological control directly predicted peer victimization, and vice versa; (c) psychological control indirectly predicted peer victimization via internalizing problems, and peer victimization also indirectly predicted psychological control via internalizing problems. These findings provide evidence of a bidirectional spillover effect between psychological control and peer victimization at the within-person level, suggesting Chinese early adolescents may become caught in a vicious cycle directly or indirectly via their internalizing problems.
Associations between sexual-harassment victimization and emotional problems are well-established. Still, the nature of this association, including the temporal order of the construct as well as whether it plays out on the between- or within-individual level is far from being understood. The aim of this study was to examine reciprocal links between sexual harassment victimization and emotional problems over time in early and mid-adolescence by separating between-individual from within-individual effects and by testing the moderating effect of ethnicity and gender. In the study, we made use of three waves of data with 1515 Swedish adolescents (50.6% girls, age 12.59 years at T1). Cross-lagged within-individual analyses showed that sexual harassment and emotional problems were related in a transactional manner. Gender, but not ethnicity, moderated the associations. The associations differed in early and mid-adolescence, perhaps because of normative school transitions. The findings have high theoretical value as it is on the within-individual level that the causal processes between being sexually harassed and experiencing emotional problems unfold. The study makes a unique contribution to the literature on sexual harassment and mental health among young people by revealing transactional associations on the within-individual level during a critical period for psychological and sexual development.
There has been a great deal of interest in understanding the etiological underpinnings to victimization. This body of research has uncovered a list of risk factors that have been consistently tied to victimization. One of the more consistent results is that criminal offenders are at-risk for being victimized. The current study expanded on this finding by examining whether four measures of being processed through the criminal justice system (i.e., arrest, conviction, probation, and incarceration) were related to multiple measures of victimization in adolescence and adulthood. To do so, data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were analyzed. The results revealed consistent and statistically significant associations between the criminal justice processing variables and the victimization measures for both males and females even after controlling for self-reported criminal and delinquent involvement. We conclude by contextualizing the results and offering suggestions for future research in this area.
Children’s academic performance has an effect on, and is affected by, their social experiences and psychological adjustment. This study aims to investigate the longitudinal relations among academic achievement, peer victimization, and depression in Chinese children. A sample of 1045 students (639 boys, 406 girls, mean age = 9 years 4 months) attending elementary schools in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, were assessed each year in Grade 3, 4, 5, and 6. This study adopted a multi-informant approach, and four waves of data on academic performance, victimization, and depression were collected from school records, peer nominations, and self-reports, respectively. Data were analyzed using the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) to examine multiple reciprocal relations among the three constructs at both the between-person level and the within-person level. The analysis revealed that, after controlling for between-person effects, the reciprocal linkages between children’s academic performance and victimization were significant from Grade 3 to 4, and from Grade 5 to 6. In addition, academic achievement had unidirectional contributions to subsequent depression in lower grades and higher grades. Findings from the present study highlighted the significance of academic performance in the Chinese culture.
Relational bullying in schools is one of the most frequent forms of violence and can have severe negative health impact, e.g. depression. Social exclusion is the most prominent form of relational bullying that can be operationalized experimentally. The present study used MR-based perfusion imaging (pCASL) to investigate the neural signatures of social exclusion and its relationship with individually different extent of previous bullying experience. Twenty-four teenagers reporting bullying experience at different extent were scanned during a virtual ball-tossing (Cyberball game). Our findings showed that social exclusion (relative to social inclusion) activated frontal brain areas: sub- and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (sg/pgACC), left inferior frontal cortex (IFG), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Positive relationship between exclusion-specific signal increase and individually different extents of prior bullying experience was for the first time observed in left IFG and sgACC. This suggests that more frequent prior experience has conditioned greater mentalizing and/or rumination, in order to cope with the situation. While this interpretation remains speculative, the present data show that the experience of being bullied partly sensitizes the neural substrate relevant for the processing of social exclusion.
This study used data from the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (MAPS) to apply propositions found in target congruence theory (TCT) to self-reported bullying victimization experienced by multicultural family youth living in South Korea. Results from a sample of 1,443 multicultural family youth show that indicators of target vulnerability (e.g., depression and acculturative stress) and target antagonism (e.g., Korean ability and perceptions toward South Korea) significantly predict school bullying victimization in the theoretically expected directions. Directly, our results highlight the importance of considering variables specific to children with multicultural backgrounds when developing anti-bullying campaigns. Broadly, our results suggest that propositions outlined in TCT may be useful when implementing programs intended to prevent victimization.
This study sought to identify the developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms and delinquency in Chinese left-behind children (LBC) over a three-year period, a topic that is less often studied. Overall, 578 Chinese LBC (Mage= 10.63 years; boys = 53.1%) were tested three times on their depressive symptoms and delinquency from grades four through six. Unconditional latent growth modeling revealed no linear change in LBC's depressive symptoms, whereas there was a linear decrease over time in LBC's delinquency. Multiple-group models revealed that the pattern of change in LBC's delinquency differed across parental migration status and gender. Moreover, mother-only migration LBC showed higher initial depressive symptoms and initial delinquency levels than father-only migration LBC. The results provided a more accurate developmental picture by charting patterns of stability and change among Chinese LBC's depressive symptoms and delinquency in the context of parental migration.
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.
This research addressed 2 limitations of past research on peer victimization: the tendency to study boys only and the tendency to focus on forms of peer maltreatment that are common in boys’ peer groups (victimization through overt aggression) but occur much less frequently in girls’ peer groups. Peer- and self-report instruments were used to assess a relational form of victimization in addition to the overt form that has been the focus of past research. Results showed that girls were more relationally victimized, whereas boys were more overtly victimized. Both forms of victimization were shown to predict concurrent sociopsychological adjustment problems significantly (e.g., peer rejection, loneliness) beyond aggression. Victims identified through a combination of self- and peer-reports were particularly maladjusted.
This study evaluated a social process model describing how aggression and withdrawal lead to negative social self-perceptions. The model posited both direct (i.e., cognitions associated with withdrawal) and indirect (i.e., mediations of negative peer status and peer experiences) influences. Eight- to 10-year-old children (n = 793) completed peer assessment measures of aggression, withdrawal, peer status, victimization and affiliations, and self-reports of loneliness, perceived acceptance, and perceived behavior–conduct. As expected, the model was supported for social self-perceptions but not for perceived behavior–conduct. Withdrawn behavior uniquely predicted social self-perceptions. Both negative peer status and peer victimization successively mediated the impact of social behavior on loneliness and perceived acceptance. Classroom affiliations did not mediate social self-perceptions.
We review fundamental issues in one traditional structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to analyzing longitudinal data — cross-lagged panel designs. We then discuss a number of new developments in SEM that are applicable to analyzing panel designs. These issues include setting appropriate scales for latent variables, specifying an appropriate null model, evaluating factorial invariance in an appropriate manner, and examining both direct and indirect (mediated), effects in ways better suited for panel designs. We supplement each topic with discussion intended to enhance conceptual and statistical understanding.
The phenomenon of adolescent sexual harassment is a topic that has taken on special relevance in recent decades. However, general consensus regarding its nature, prevalence and dimensions has yet to emerge. This study used a representative sample of 3,489 Andalusian adolescents from the second stage of Compulsory Secondary Education (E.S.O.) and the Spanish Baccalaureate (Bachillerato), and it is primarily focused on two main objectives: to test the factor structure of the “sexual harassment” scale in boys and girls, and to analyze the prevalence of hte sexual harassment among adolescent students. Descriptive analyses and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed, allowing us to explore the nature of the phenomenon and to describe its prevalence. The results obtained revealed a two-dimensional structure of this scale in both boys and girls: one dimension reflecting visual-verbal forms of sexual harassment and the second dimension including physical forms. Regarding to prevalence, the outcomes shown a high prevalence of sexual harassment involvement across both sexes during adolescence. However, boys were more involved in victimization and aggression than girls. The importance of analyzing the phenomenon in greater depth is also highlighted.
Studies of adults and adolescents suggest subjective socio-economic status (SES) is associated with health/well-being even after adjustment for objective SES. In adolescence, objective SES may have weaker relationships with health/well-being than at other life stages; school-based social status may be of greater relevance. We investigated the associations which objective SES (residential deprivation and family affluence), subjective SES and three school-based subjective social status dimensions ("SSS-peer", "SSS-scholastic" and "SSS-sports") had with physical symptoms, psychological distress and anger among 2503 Scottish 13-15 year-olds. Associations between objective SES and health/well-being were weak and inconsistent. Lower subjective SES was associated with increased physical symptoms and psychological distress, lower SSS-peer with increased psychological distress but reduced anger, lower SSS-scholastic with increased physical symptoms, psychological distress and anger, and lower SSS-sports with increased physical symptoms and psychological distress. Associations did not differ by gender. Objective and subjective SES had weaker associations with health/well-being than did school-based SSS dimensions. These findings underline the importance of school-based SSS in adolescence, and the need for future studies to include a range of school-based SSS dimensions and several health/well-being measures. They also highlight the need for a focus on school-based social status among those working to promote adolescent health/well-being.
Despite high rates of gendered violence among youth, very few young women report these
incidents to authority figures. This study moves the discussion from the question of why
young women do not report them toward how violence is produced, maintained, and normalized
among youth. The girls in this study often did not name what law, researchers, and
educators commonly identify as sexual harassment and abuse. How then, do girls name
and make sense of victimization? Exploring violence via the lens of compulsory heterosexuality
highlights the relational dynamics at play in this naming process. Forensic
interviews with youth revealed patterns of heteronormative scripts appropriated to make
sense of everyday harassment, violence, coercion, and consent. Findings inform discussions
about the links between dominant discourses and sexual subjectivities as we try to
better understand why many regard violence a normal part of life.
Up to one in five children experience mental health problems. Social and cultural factors may influence emergence of mental health problems. The 21st century has led to changes in many of these factors, but it is unclear whether rates of internalizing and externalizing problems have also changed in recent cohorts of young people.
A comprehensive literature search was undertaken to locate cohort or population studies that examined changes in mental health of children over time, where participants were aged 18 years and under, and the time frame for change was at least 10 years, with data for at least one time point in the 21st century being statistically compared to at least one time point in the 20th century. Studies were reviewed for quality and outcome.
Nineteen studies met criteria for review. These included studies of toddlers, children, and adolescents. Seventeen studies examined internalizing problems, and 11 studies examined externalizing problems. For both children and toddlers, recent cohorts did not exhibit worsening of mental health symptoms. In adolescents, the burden of externalizing problems appear to be stable. However, the majority of studies report an increase in internalizing problems in adolescent girls. The findings for internalizing problems in boys were mixed.
These findings suggest that recent cohorts of adolescent girls are experiencing increases in internalizing symptoms compared to previous cohorts. Approaches for prevention and early intervention should be explored.
Students experience many forms of victimization at school, yet few studies address more than one form of victimization. In this study, we explored the incidence of multiple forms of peer victimization, including direct verbal and physical, relational, and sexual harassment victimization among urban middle school students. We examined the overlap and gender differences among victimization experiences. Further, social cognitive theory was used to better understand how victimization experiences influence beliefs about the acceptability of aggression. Youth in 6th through 8th grades (N=111) completed self-report measures assessing peer victimization experiences and normative beliefs about aggression. Results revealed overlap between victimization experiences, suggesting that students commonly experience multiple forms of victimization by peers. Males who were sexually harassed held the strongest beliefs supporting aggression in situations without provocation. Our findings suggest that direct physical/verbal, relational, and sexual harassment victimization are inter-related experiences among youth, and these experiences differ by sex.
Depressive symptoms in adolescents are an in-creasing public health issue in Sweden and in most Western countries. Aim: To explore how individual, psychosocial, and structural deter-minants are associated with depressive symp-toms in Swedish adolescents. Methods: A web- based questionnaire was answered by 1193 13- to 16-year-old boys (n = 566) and girls (n = 627). Stepwise logistic regressions were employed to analyse the association between depressive sym- ptoms and various determinants at the individ-ual level (self-efficacy), the psychosocial level (parental, peer, and teacher support, school de-mands, sexual harassment, and bullying) and the structural level (family affluence, having less money than friends, and parental foreign back-ground). Results: Determinants at the individual, psychosocial, and structural levels were inde-pendently associated with high levels of depres-sive symptoms in both boys and girls. The full model explained a high proportion of the vari-ance in depressive symptoms in both genders; 34.1% in boys and 36.8% in girls. The psycho-social level contributed the most to explaining the variance in depressive symptoms in boys. In girls, when harassment variables were separated from psychosocial variables, the harassment var- iables contributed as much to the full model as the rest of the psychosocial variables combined. Conclusions: Addressing psychosocial determi-nants provides the greatest benefits for prevent-ing depressive symptoms in adolescents. Ac-knowledging the association between sexual harassment and depressive symptoms for girls and having less money than their friends for boys and girls are particularly important.
School-based peer-to-peer sexual harassment (SH) emerged as an issue of concern in the early 1990s. As a developing field, this literature has several notable gaps. The current study extends previous research by, (a) exploring the understudied experiences of middle school students, (b) assessing students’ experiences witnessing SH, and (c) evaluating how SH is related to students’ emotional well-being and academic outcomes. Survey findings indicate that the vast majority of middle school students are both SH targets and witnesses. SH experiences were negatively associated with psychological well-being and academic performance. Psychological distress mediated the relationship between direct SH and academic outcomes; however, no significant relationship was found between witnessing SH and psychological or academic outcomes. Students’ incident reports offered insight into the context of SH. Most perpetrators are male, victims are both male and female, and SH occurs in public spaces with few adult witnesses. Implications for research, practice, and interventions are discussed.
This study investigated vocabulary acquisition in the context of joint picture-book reading in mother-infant dyads belonging to 2 social classes. 20 middle-class and 20 lower-class dyads were observed, the infants ranging in age between 17 and 22 months. In both groups interaction focused on the eliciting or the provision of labeling information. The most frequent formats consisted of cycles headed by "What's that?" questions, by "Where is X?" questions, and by labeling statements emitted by the mother. Cluster analysis revealed that these formats and other measures of input language fell into 3 groups, each apparently representing a different dyadic interaction style. In the high-SES group, each style was associated with the size of a different vocabulary in the infant: productive, comprehension, and imitative vocabularies. In the low-SES group, the proportion of maternal "what" questions was correlated with the infant's level, whereas "where" questions and labeling statements were not adjusted to the infant's level. Low-SES mothers talked less and provided less varied labels for actions and attributes. They asked less "what" questions and more "where" questions. High-SES infants had a bigger productive vocabulary, and low-SES infants had a bigger imitative vocabulary. The rate of development was slower in the low-SES group, as evidenced by lower correlations with the age of the infant.
Considers which behaviours pupils and teachers regard as bullying. Finds that a substantial proportion of people fail to include non-physical acts - such as deliberately leaving somebody out of activities, laughing at someone’s misfortunes, and name-calling - in their definition of bullying. Reports on the frequency with which various behaviours were experienced by young people, and how they might affect standardized measures of psychological wellbeing. Finds that many children were bullied in non-physical ways, and that these experiences were associated with psychological disturbances. Suggests that health educators should do more to widen teachers’ and pupils’ conceptions of bullying to include non-physical acts of violence, and to encourage schools and other institutions to do more to combat them.
This report summarizes the findings of a national survey of 2,064 public school students in 8th through 11th grades regarding their perceptions of and experiences with bullying and sexual harassment in schools. According to the students surveyed, sexual harassment—words and actions—in school happens often, occurs under teachers’ noses, begins in elementary school, and is very upsetting to both girls and boys. The results indicate that schools have much more work to do in educating students and training teachers and administrators how to deal appropriately with sexual harassment.
Developed a peer nomination scale to assess the degree to which children are subjected to direct physical and verbal abuse by peers. Ss were 165 boys and girls in the third through sixth grades. About 10% of the children could be classified as extremely victimized. Age and sex differences in victimization were nonsignificant. Children's victimization scores were uncorrelated with their aggression scores (also assessed by peer nominations), were negatively correlated with peer acceptance, and were positively correlated with peer rejection. When children's victimization and aggression scores were treated as dual predictors of peer rejection, over half of the variance in peer rejection could be accounted for. Implications of the fact that a small group of children consistently serve as targets of peer aggression are discussed.
Objectives:
Renewed scientific and media interest in suicidal behaviour has resulted in a number of initiatives examining and defining this complex and tragic phenomenon. However, in comparison to the study of adult suicidal behaviour, that of adolescents is still under researched. This study aimed to identify the extent and nature of parasuicide in young people under 17 years of age in the Foyle area in the 28 month period up to and including April 1997.
Method:
The psychiatric assessments of all those admitted to hospital as the result of parasuicide during this period were examined. A psychosocial and clinical profile of this group of young people was then constructed. Any reported stressors recorded in the assessments were noted, and an attempt was made to ‘track’ contact with helping agencies in each case during the months immediately before and after admission.
Results:
One hundred and twenty four young people were admitted during the period under review, the vast majority following an overdose.
Conclusions:
Family conflict, family illness and bullying were the three most frequently recorded stressors. Twothirds had no apparent contact with services in the three months prior to admission, and of these, half were not referred on to specialist services after they had been discharged from hospital.
• The epidemiology and correlates of depressive mood were measured in a representative sample of public high school students in New York State and a subsample matched to their parents. Depressive mood was measured by a self-reported scale validated in a clinical sample. Adolescents with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder scored higher than those with other psychiatric diagnoses. In the general adolescent sample, sex differences in depressive mood paralleled those previously reported for adults, with girls scoring higher than boys. Adolescents reported higher depressive mood than their parents, with the differences greater in daughter-mother than in son-father pairs. If judged by mood differences,adolescence was a stressful period in the life cycle. Lowest levels of adolescent depressive mood correlated with high levels of attachment both to parents and to peers. Sex differences in depressive mood In adolescents may be accounted for by masked depression and increased delinquency among boys as compared with girls.
Mental health problems increased in adolescents and young adults in Europe between 1950 and 1990 and the cause is largely unknown. Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden form a relatively homogenous group of countries with favourable conditions for children. Our review examined the time trends for mental health problems in these countries between 1990 and 2010.
In general, there were only small changes in mental health problems in the countries studied. However we did note a marked rising trend in mental health problems among adolescents in Sweden, which also has more issues with school achievement and unemployment rates. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
In this article, Nan Stein argues that sexual harassment in schools is a form of gendered violence that often happens in the public arena. She presents the narratives of girls and boys about their experience of sexual harassment in schools and finds parallels with cases documented in court records and depositions. While highly publicized lawsuits and civil rights cases may have increased public awareness of the issue, inconsistent findings have sent educators mixed messages about ways of dealing with peer-to-peer sexual harassment. The antecedents of harassment, she suggests, are found in teasing and bullying, behaviors tacitly accepted by parents and teachers. Stein makes a case for deliberate adult intervention and the inclusion of a curriculum in schools that builds awareness of these issues.
The first part of this short report looks at the problems of using the term ‘bullying’ across different cultures; and the difficulties in arriving at a definitive definition of what constitutes bullying among professional researchers and other adults. The second part looks at young children's perception of what bullying means to them, and draws on a small‐scale piece of recent research that formed part of an MA dissertation on the incidence of bullying in a junior school in Essex. The results suggested that pupils (and teachers) found the term ‘bullying’ rather ambiguous and difficult to define. Younger pupils were found to have a more extensive definition of the term, and a hypothesis was proposed that this might account for the higher levels of being bullied found in the lower school.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of marital support, conflict, or divorce to clinic parents' perceptions of child adjustment, parenting behaviors, and child conduct problems. Forty-two maritally supported, 43 maritally distressed, and 32 single parents and their clinic children (aged 3-7) participated in the study. Results revealed significant correlations between mothers' reports of low marital satisfaction and more negative perceptions of child adjustment, increased mother stress levels, increased mother commands, and increased child noncompliance. However, single mothers reported significantly more child behavior problems and perceived themselves as more stressed than the other two groups of mothers. The observational data indicated that single mothers exhibited more critical statements, questions, and commands when interacting with their children and in turn their children exhibited more deviant and noncompliant behaviors than the other two groups of mothers and children. The meanings of these findings and gender differences are discussed.
This qualitative study focuses on peer abuse as a sociocultural phenomenon. Peer abuse emerged as a serendipiditous result from the analysis of students' written recollections of what had made them the most unhappy at four stages in their earlier lives. The sample consisted of two student cohorts (1974 and 1989) including 90 respondents each. Far more negative peer treatment than negative parental treatment was reported, along with reports of serious and lasting developmental problems generally attributed only to parental causality in the literature. These results were even more salient for the 1989 cohort than for the 1974 one. Moreover, the data illustrate how peer abuse impacted negatively on the victims' parents. Answers are suggested for the question: Why is peer abuse not a more prominent research and social policy concern?
• Psychosocial relationships with parents, peers, and siblings, as well as school functioning, were measured at two points in time by parental interview in 21 prepubertal children: during an episode of major depression and after they had sustained an affective recovery from the index episode for at least four months. School functioning was completely normalized, but deficits in the child's intrafamilial and extrafamilial relationships had improved only partially. The pattern of Improvement was merely quantitative. Moderate deficits during the depressive episode reached, after affective recovery, the level of the normal control group. In contrast, severe deficits only improved to a moderate level of severity. It is suggested that treating the affective disorder is not sufficient in many children with major depression and that efficacy studies of psychotherapeutic interventions in affectively recovered children are needed.
The World Health Organization has produced a multimedia, interactive online report entitled Health for the World's Adolescents: A Second Chance in the Second Decade. The report provides an overview of global and regional estimates of adolescent mortality and disability-adjusted life years, disaggregated by age, sex, and cause, and country-level data on health-related behaviors and conditions among adolescents. It outlines the reasons why adolescence is a unique period in the life course requiring special attention and synthesizes current thinking about the determinants that underlie the differences in health status between adolescents. For the first time, this new report pulls together recommendations and guidance from across the World Health Organization relating to interventions directed to a range of priority health problems, including use of alcohol and other psychoactive substances, AIDS, injuries, mental health, nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, tobacco use, and violence, focusing on four core functions of the health sector: supportive policies, service provision, strategic information, and working with other sectors. The report concludes with 10 key actions that would strengthen national responses to adolescent health, and outlines the approaches that are needed to overcome the obstacles to accelerating evidence-informed actions to improve the health of adolescents worldwide-with all the benefits that this will have for public health in the present and across the life course, for this generation and the next.
Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.
School bullying has become a topic of public concern and considerable research in the UK over the last decade. It has been found to be quite extensive in school peer groups: characteristics of such bullying, based on survey results, are summarised. The design and results of the Sheffield AntiBullying Project, which assisted and monitored interventions in 23 schools, is then described. Interventions comprised a whole-school policy; curriculum interventions; playground work; and interventions with specific individuals and groups of pupils. Significant reductions in bullying were obtained. The Project resulted in a Pack, distributed nationwide to over 19,000 schools in England.
Most adults with common mental disorders report their first symptoms before 24 years of age. Although adolescent anxiety and depression are frequent, little clarity exists about which syndromes persist into adulthood or resolve before then. In this report, we aim to describe the patterns and predictors of persistence into adulthood.
We recruited a stratified, random sample of 1943 adolescents from 44 secondary schools across the state of Victoria, Australia. Between August, 1992, and January, 2008, we assessed common mental disorder at five points in adolescence and three in young adulthood, commencing at a mean age of 15·5 years and ending at a mean age of 29·1 years. Adolescent disorders were defined on the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) at five adolescent measurement points, with a primary cutoff score of 12 or higher representing a level at which a family doctor would be concerned. Secondary analyses addressed more severe disorders at a cutoff of 18 or higher.
236 of 821 (29%; 95% CI 25-32) male participants and 498 of 929 (54%; 51-57) female participants reported high symptoms on the CIS-R (≥12) at least once during adolescence. Almost 60% (434/734) went on to report a further episode as a young adult. However, for adolescents with one episode of less than 6 months duration, just over half had no further common mental health disorder as a young adult. Longer duration of mental health disorders in adolescence was the strongest predictor of clear-cut young adult disorder (odds ratio [OR] for persistent young adult disorder vs none 3·16, 95% CI 1·86-5·37). Girls (2·12, 1·29-3·48) and adolescents with a background of parental separation or divorce (1·62, 1·03-2·53) also had a greater likelihood of having ongoing disorder into young adulthood than did those without such a background. Rates of adolescent onset disorder dropped sharply by the late 20s (0·57, 0·45-0·73), suggesting a further resolution for many patients whose symptoms had persisted into the early 20s.
Episodes of adolescent mental disorder often precede mental disorders in young adults. However, many such disorders, especially when brief in duration, are limited to the teenage years, with further symptom remission common in the late 20s. The resolution of many adolescent disorders gives reason for optimism that interventions that shorten the duration of episodes could prevent much morbidity later in life.
Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council.
To explore relationships between harassment (i.e., race-, weight-, socioeconomic-status (SES)-based, and sexual) and health-related outcomes, including self-esteem, depressive symptoms, body satisfaction, substance use, and self-harm behavior, among diverse adolescents.
Cross-sectional analysis using data from a population-based study of adolescents participating in Eating and Activity in Teens 2010 (EAT 2010) (n = 2,793; mean age = 14.4 years). Sample was socioeconomically and racially/ethnically diverse (81% racial/ethnic minority; 54% low or low-middle income).
Having experienced any type of harassment was significantly associated with poor self-esteem, depressive symptoms, low body satisfaction, substance use, and self-harm behaviors. After mutually adjusting for other types of harassment, weight-based harassment was consistently associated with lower self-esteem and lower body satisfaction in both genders (standardized βs ranged in magnitude from .39 to .48); sexual harassment was significantly associated with self-harm and substance use in both genders (ORs: 1.64 to 2.92); and both weight-based and sexual harassment were significantly associated with depressive symptoms among girls (standardized βs = .34 and .37). Increases in the number of different harassment types reported by adolescents were associated with elevated risk for alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, and self-harm (ORs: 1.22 to 1.42) as well as emotional well-being (standardized βs: .13 to .26).
Having had any harassment experience was significantly associated with a variety of negative health and well-being outcomes among adolescents, and risk for these outcomes increases with the number of harassment types an adolescent experiences. Early detection and intervention to decrease harassment experiences may be particularly important in mitigating psychological and behavioral harm among adolescents.
School bullying is a serious problem affecting the victims, their daily life, and society in general. An increasing amount of research on school bullying has recently been published which calls for an updated review on the literature. The objective of this article is to review psychological variables which may explain individual reactions to bullying victimization in school-aged children. The selected psychological variables are coping, social support, attachment, negative affectivity/neuroticism, and somatization. The strengths and limitations of the reviewed research are discussed, and future research directions focusing on a more dynamic understanding of personal factors are suggested.
This commentary on Scarborough and Dobrich′s (1994) review of the efficacy of parents′ shared book reading with preschool children responds in three ways to their findings that shared book reading accounts for only 8% of the variance on literacy outcome measures: (1) While small, the variance accounted for by this variable is, unlike variables such as SES, manipulable. (2) If researchers can improve their measures of frequency and quality of the shared book reading experience, then more valid and reliable results might be obtained in future interventions. (3) Other home literacy factors-such as child interest in literacy, parental support of literacy, and children′s oral language-also have an important influence on outcome literacy measures.
Although the receipt of peer sexual harassment in schools has been linked to deliberate self-injury, the direction of association over time has not been tested. Two longitudinal studies examined whether receipt of peer sexual harassment within schools predicts engagement in deliberate self-injury or vice versa. Differences between boys and girls were also tested.
Surveys were conducted in two countries, Canada and Sweden. Measures of sexual harassment and deliberate self-injury were administered yearly in classrooms. Two waves of data were collected in the Canadian study (N = 161, 59.6% girls, mean age = 13.82 years); three waves of data were collected in Sweden (N = 513, 47% girls, mean age = 13.23 years).
In the Canadian study, deliberate self-injury predicted subsequent peer sexual harassment; the converse relationship was not significant. No significant gender differences were found. Across the three waves of the Swedish study, peer sexual harassment predicted self-injury from T1 to T2, and self-injury predicted peer sexual harassment from T2 to T3. However, self-injury did not mediate peer sexual harassment at T1 and T3. Tests of gender differences revealed self-injury predicted sexual harassment from T2 to T3 among Swedish girls but not boys.
Adolescents who deliberately self-injure may be vulnerable to sexual harassment by peers at school. Cultural norms may have a role in whether this process applies primarily to girls or to both genders. Sexual harassment by peers may also increase self-injury, but this is not subsequently linked to increases in receipt of sexual harassment.
ABSTRACTS
Ninety‐six middle‐income parent‐child dyads were videotaped as they shared an unfamiliar book together. Parents' extratextual utterances were coded for content and entered into a cluster analysis in order to identify patterns in the variability in interaction style. Four clusters were revealed: (a) two small clusters of parents who provided many extratextual utterances during book sharing, but who differed with regard to the types of utterances used most frequently; (b) a cluster of parents who provided moderate numbers of utterances across all utterance types; and (c) a large cluster of parents who contributed minimal extratextual utterances during book sharing. Previous research has demonstrated that variability in parent interactions during book sharing is high. These results suggest that parents' utterances varied in systematic ways and that the predominant pattern within this sample was one of limited numbers of extratextual utterances during the sharing of an unfamiliar book. These findings have implications for the methods to best explore variability and the directions of future research.
This paper, based on the perspectives of young men, explores the relationship between dominant constructions of masculinities and the sexual harassment of young women in Australian secondary schools, within a feminist poststructuralist theoretical framework. Of particular importance in this process are the ways in which sexual harassment is integral to the construction of hegemonic heterosexual masculine identities; the importance of popularity, acceptance and young men's fears within male peer group cultures; and the utilization of sexual harassment as a means through which to maintain and regulate hierarchical power relationships, not just in relation to gender, but how it intersects with other sites of power such as ‘race’ and class. It is highlighted that sexual harassment is considered a legitimate and expected means through which to express and reconfirm the public and private positions of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ within a heterosexualized, racialized and classed gender order.
This article examines the teenage policing of heterosexuality in schools and contributes to debates about teenage sexual moralities and heterosexual male agency. It reports on a qualitative study in England of the collective sexual values of 12‐ to 13‐year‐olds and 14‐ to 15‐year‐olds. Focus group interviews indicated that pupils developed a consensual sexual morality through collusive sex talk. Homophobic and misogynistic views and verbal abuse were found to be key instruments of teenage peer regulation of sexual identities crossing class and ethnic boundaries. We found that the ‘official’ discourse of sex education did not relate to teenage lives. Anxieties about heterosexual masculinity and girls' sexual agency were conveyed by some boys through verbal sexual harassment—a form of behaviour regarded as intimidating yet normal. While white and Asian boys were more conservative in their views about marriage than girls, white and Asian girls struggled to resist heterosexual masculine power through career aspirations, by questioning marriage and being informed about sexual issues.
This article reports on a qualitative investigation of the effects of indirect aggression from peers (e.g. spreading false stories, exclusion from the group) on teenage girls. Focus groups, pair and individual interviews were conducted with teenage girls and their key teachers to explore the effects of indirect aggression on girls. The perceived characteristics of typical victims of indirect aggression also emerged from the study. The girls initially respond to indirect aggression with confusion and may deny suffering any ill-effects. However, as is the case with other forms of victimization, girls certainly experience a range of negative psychological effects including anxiety, loss of selfesteem and depression. This pain leads to a desire to escape through leaving the group or the school and even to thoughts of suicide. The girls fear that the harassment from peers may not end and witnesses or bystanders do not intervene for fear of what may happen to them. The pain of indirect aggression may be compounded by irrational self-talk by the girls. Some girls react to indirect aggression by retaliating against their aggressors and often conflict is resolved by girls who employ one-to-one strategies that avoid the power of the group. Some victims of indirect aggression are reported to bring the wrath of peers upon themselves through their actions in provoking others. However, the tendency to blame the victim may be a way of alleviating guilt on behalf of the perpetrators of aggression. Victims of indirect aggression may be particularly vulnerable if they are new or have few friends or lack assertiveness. An understanding of the painful effects of indirect aggression on girls is an important prelude to designing interventions to assist girls in their peer relationships.
The CES-D scale is a short self-report scale designed to measure depressive symptomatology in the general population. The items of the scale are symptoms associated with depression which have been used in previously validated longer scales. The new scale was tested in household interview surveys and in psychiatric settings. It was found to have very high internal consistency and adequate test- retest repeatability. Validity was established by pat terns of correlations with other self-report measures, by correlations with clinical ratings of depression, and by relationships with other variables which support its construct validity. Reliability, validity, and factor structure were similar across a wide variety of demographic characteristics in the general population samples tested. The scale should be a useful tool for epidemiologic studies of de pression.