Peer victimization and substance use: Understanding the indirect effect of depressive symptomatology across gender

Abstract

Results suggest that female youth who are victimized by peers engage in substance use behaviors, at least in part, due to increases in depressive symptoms. Given its effect on depression, female victims may therefore benefit from coping skills training that targets emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills in order to combat increased risk for substance use behaviors as a coping response to their victimization. Further research is warranted to better understand the risk pathway for male youth who also experience peer victimization.

Perceived Family and Friend Support Moderate Pathways From Peer Victimization to Substance Use in Early-Adolescent Girls and Boys: A Moderated-Mediation Analysis

“…Although relational victimization predicted increases in depressive symptoms among boys, depressive symptoms were unrelated to substance use risk for boys. These findings are consistent with current theory (Hong et al, 2014; Rose & Rudolph, 2006) and some extant research (Luk et al, 2010; Zapolski et al, 2018) suggesting that the depressive symptoms risk pathway from peer victimization to substance use may be salient for adolescent girls. Indeed, adolescent girls tend to value social goals as being more central to their self-worth and display enhanced physiological and neural activity in stress response systems following interpersonal stressors relative to boys (Ordaz & Luna, 2012; Rose & Rudolph, 2006).…”

“…These hypotheses are consistent with affect-regulation and self-medication models of substance use, which posit that individuals engage in substance use to alleviate emotional distress (Sher & Slutske, 2003; Tomlinson & Brown, 2012). Longitudinal studies consistently support this meditational pathway in adolescents (Davis et al, 2018; Earnshaw et al, 2017; Zapolski et al, 2018). Yet, the relevance of the depressive symptoms risk pathway for different forms of peer victimization and specific substances remains unclear, as no known studies have differentiated between overt, relational, and social media victimization.…”

“…Traditional peer victimization (i.e., overt, relational) has been shown in two studies to predict elevated depressive symptoms among adolescent girls to a greater degree than boys (Sentse, Prinzie, & Salmivalli, 2017; Yang, Bian, Chen, & Wang, 2016). In addition, in two studies examining gender differences in the depressive symptoms risk pathway, depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between traditional peer victimization and substance use risk for adolescent girls only (Luk, Wang, & Simons-Morton, 2010; Zapolski et al, 2018). Although the extant literature is mixed and gender differences are often small in magnitude, these findings suggest that the mediational pathways between peer victimization and substance use may potentially differ by gender and require replication.…”

“…The first objective is to examine whether depressive symptoms and academic achievement mediated the relationship between peer victimization and risk for distinct facets of substance use (tobacco, vaping, marijuana, alcohol, inhalants) in a diverse community sample of early adolescents (11-14 years). In light of social development theories (Ordaz & Luna, 2012; Rose & Rudolph, 2006) and initial research (Luk et al, 2010; Zapolski et al, 2018), it is hypothesized that the depressive symptoms risk pathway would be more robust for girls as compared to boys, especially with regard to relational and social media victimization. In contrast, it is hypothesized that the academic achievement risk pathway, particularly in response to overt victimization, would be stronger among boys due to their tendencies to exhibit externalizing responses to peer victimization that impair academic capabilities and lead to decreases in grades (Jiang et al, 2016; Troop-Gordon, 2017).…”

“…Given that gender differences in peer victimization and substance use are not found consistently, it remains important to consider whether the strength of the relationship between peer victimization and substance use during early adolescence differ based on the form of peer victimization and gender of the victim. Overt victimization, which has been shown in some studies to increase risk for substance use in boys, but not girls, appears to exert a more robust impact as compared to relational victimization (Carbone-Lopez, Esbensen, & Brick, 2010;Zapolski, Rowe, Fisher, Hensel, & Barnes-Najor, 2018). Some, though not all, studies have found that relational victimization may increase risk for substance use in girls, but decrease substance use vulnerability in boys (Carbone-Lopez et al, 2010;Whaley, Hayes, & Smith, 2016).…”