Peer Victimization: Cause or Consequence of School Maladjustment?

Abstract

Past research has shown that peer victimization and school maladjustment are related, but it is unclear whether victimization is a cause or consequence of such difficulties. This study examined whether (a) peer victimization is a precursor of school maladjustment, (b) the effects are limited to the period of victimization, and (c) stable peer victimization experiences compound adjustment difficulties. Toward this end, data were collected on 200 5- and 6-year-old children (105 males, 95 females) in the fall and spring of kindergarten. Findings supported the hypothesis that victimization is a precursor of children's loneliness and school avoidance. Whereas children's feelings of loneliness were more pronounced while victimization was occurring, delayed effects were found for school avoidance. Furthermore, the duration of children's victimization experiences was related to the magnitude of their school adjustment problems.

Negative Affect in Victimized Children: The Roles of Social Withdrawal, Peer Rejection, and Attitudes Toward Bullying

“…Further, when including several measures from one respondent in regression analyses, there is an increased chance of finding significance due to shared method variance. Nevertheless, effects of shared method variance due to the presence of several self-report and teacher-report measures were partially reduced through the use of hierarchical regression procedures and the inclusion of residualized change scores (see Perry, 1999 andLadd, 1996, for a similar argument). In summary, future tests of the mediational model should take into account peer ratings and should use latent variables in combining reports from several informants (e.g., reports of victimization and rejection by self-, peer-, and teacher-report) so as to further control for shared method variance and biases in reporting (e.g., differing perspectives, socially desirable responding).…”

“…For example, peer victimization in kindergarten predicted later loneliness and school avoidance (Kochenderfer & Ladd, 1996), and rejection experiences in early adolescence predicted the development of subsequent social anxiety and depression (Vernberg, 1990;Vernberg, Abwender, Ewell, & Beery, 1992). Boivin, Hymel, and Bukowski (1995) provided initial support for a mediational model linking peer victimization to loneliness and depression in middle childhood: children who reported increased loneliness at Time 2 were more socially withdrawn, rejected by peers, and victimized by peers 1 year earlier.…”

Four decades of research on school bullying: An introduction.

“…Teacher and peer reports show higher stability (e.g., r range = .5 to .7; Fox & Boulton, 2006;Hanish et al, 2004) than self-reports (e.g., r range = .2 to .4; Dhami, Hoglund, Leadbeater, & Boone, 2005;Fox & Boulton, 2006;Kochenderfer & Ladd, 1996). Generally, victimization is somewhat transient among younger children (e.g., Buhs, Ladd, & Herald, 2006;Ladd & Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2002), but becomes moderately stable for middle elementary students, over both short intervals (4 to 5 months, Goodman, Stormshak, & Dishion, 2001;Ostrov, 2008) and across 1 or 2 years (Bellmore & Cillessen, 2006;Ladd & KochenderferLadd, 2002;Salmivalli, Lappalainen, & Lagerspetz, 1998;Yeung & Leadbeater, 2010), with 40% to 50% of students reporting consistent victimization (Beran, 2008;Smith, Talamelli, Cowie, Naylor, & Chauhan, 2004).…”

Trajectories of Social Withdrawal from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence

“…Much of the research supporting this view emanates from studies of friendless children. For instance, friendless children are more likely to be lonely and victimized by peers than those children who have friends (Brendgen et al 2000;Kochenderfer and Ladd 1996). And Hodges et al (1999) reported that victimization by peers predicted increases in internalizing and externalizing problems across the school year only for those children who lacked a mutual best friendship.…”