What Explains Correlates of Peer Victimization? A Systematic Review of Mediating Factors

Abstract

Being accepted by peers is central to health and wellbeing among adolescents whereas being the subject of peer/bullying-victimization can be perceived as significant interpersonal stress, resulting in compromised adjustment concurrently and long-term. Unfortunately, little is known about mechanisms that explain why peer victimization goes ''under the skin''. This systematic review aims to summarize the research on mediating pathways. A total of 65 articles were selected that explicitly examined mediation of associations between peer victimization in adolescence and concurrent and later outcomes. Most studies were based on North American and European samples and focused on internalizing or school-related outcomes. Mediation appears to be more stable by emotional states and symptoms than self-perceptions and attributions but results vary by outcome. Limitations concern the crosssectional design of most studies, geographic restriction, and widespread use of self-reports for assessments of exposure, mediator, and outcome.

The relationship between peer victimization, cognitive appraisals, and adjustment: A systematic review

“…As with other reviews (e.g. Kretschmer, 2016), a dependence on cross-sectional methods was a feature of the work identified. This impedes our ability to identify causal relationships between peer-victimization, appraisals, and adjustment.…”

Cybervictimization and Adolescent Internet Addiction: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…This finding supports the rejection sensitivity model [ 16 ], which suggests that adolescents who develop rejection sensitivity based on interpersonal stressors are more likely to develop externalizing or internalizing symptoms. Thus, adolescents who internalize the experience of cybervictimization may particularly experience an increase in rejection sensitivity [ 17 , 53 ]. Consequently, they may use the Internet, an anonymous virtual space, to connect with others without pressure and to avoid or reduce their anxiety about future social interactions [ 54 ].…”

The relation of school achievement with self-esteem and bullying in Chilean children

“…However, a meta-analysis of quasi-experimental evidence found that the effect of bullying on achievement was small (Schoeler et al, 2018), suggesting resilience of victimized children in the long-term. A review of the correlates of bullying suggests that emotional factors might have a larger role than social-cognitive processes in explaining the relationship between bullying and achievement and internalizing outcomes (Kretschmer, 2016), and this conclusion might also help us explain the small effect sizes found.…”