Depressive symptoms, friend distress, and self-blame: Risk factors for adolescent peer victimization

Abstract

Past research indicates that depressed adolescents experience increased risk for peer victimization. Less is known about the conditions under which depressive symptoms predict social vulnerability and the mechanism underlying such links. The current study considers a) characterological self-blaming attributions as a social cognitive mechanism accounting for links between depressive symptoms and victimization across the first two years of middle school and b) the potential moderating role of friends’ level of depressive symptoms. Relying on an ethnically diverse sample of 5,374 adolescents, multilevel moderated mediation analyses indicated that maladaptive attributions accounted for links between 6th grade depressive symptoms and increases in 7th grade victimization. Moreover, this mediational pathway was strongest for students whose friends also experienced heightened depressive symptoms at the beginning of middle school. These results highlight the roles of both intra- and inter-personal risk factors in predicting social cognitive biases and future victimization risk during the middle school years.

Cyberbullying and Children and Young People's Mental Health: A Systematic Map of Systematic Reviews

“…Other evidence suggests that CYP are likely to experience mental health problems as a consequence of cyberbullying. 23,54 Likewise, those with pre-existing mental health problems, such as depression, are also more likely than their peers to be bullied, 67,68 suggesting the existence of a vicious circle, whereby psychosocial problems increase the risk of cyberbullying, which in turn exacerbates psychosocial problems. 69,70 Nevertheless, lived experiences of CYP can attest to the harmful effect of cyberbullying on their mental health.…”

Depression, Anxiety, and Peer Victimization: Bidirectional Relationships and Associated Outcomes Transitioning from Childhood to Adolescence

“…For example, children who engage in bullying often seek out targets they believe they can easily dominate . The increased emotionality and specific behaviors exhibited by depressed and/or anxious individuals (e.g., social withdrawal, fearfulness, avoidance, crying, and flat affect; Luchetti & Rapee, 2014) may therefore be especially likely to identify such individuals as targets because these behaviors signal emotional vulnerability to potential aggressors (Schacter & Juvonen, 2017). Reijntjes et al (2010) similarly hypothesized that children experiencing internalizing difficulties may have more trouble defending themselves (e.g., standing up to the bully), which further solidifies their status as a victim by demonstrating to their attacker/s that they can be successfully dominated with few, if any, repercussions.…”

Prospective associations between children's depressive symptoms and peer victimization: The role of social helplessness

“…There is limited evidence that social-cognitive (e.g., Schacter & Juvonen, 2017) and behavioural (e.g., Rudolph, Flynn, Abaied, Groot, & Thompson, 2009) processes account for links between depression and interpersonal dysfunction. This is the first study, however, that involved an investigation of social helplessness, specifically, as a mediator of associations between depression and relationship disturbances.…”