This longitudinal study investigated how changes in peer victimization were associated with changes in internalizing symptoms among 662 adolescents across a 4-year period. The moderating effects of initial levels of father, mother, and friend emotional support on this association were also examined. Gender and age group differences (early adolescent group aged 12-15 years; late adolescent group aged 16-18 years) were tested. Increases in physical and relational victimization were related to increases in internalizing symptoms. Friend emotional support was more protective in reducing internalizing symptoms for adolescent males than adolescent females in both the early and late adolescent groups. Gender differences also moderated the effects of mother and father emotional support.Internalizing problems including depression and anxiety affect approximately 10% to 20% of youth (Brendgen, Wanner, Morin, & Vitaro, 2005;Letcher, Smart, Sanson, & Toumbourou, 2009). However, the patterns of changes in internalizing symptoms from late adolescence into early adulthood are not clear. Epidemiological research on the incidence of psychiatric disorders in the transition from adolescence to adulthood shows increases in some anxiety disorders such as panic and agoraphobia (Costello, Copeland, & Angold, 2011). Some studies also show increases in depressive symptoms and in new cases of depressive disorders from mid-to late-adolescence followed by decreases from adolescence into adulthood (Hale, Raaijmakers, Muris, van Hoof, & Meeus, 2008;Montague, Cavendish, Enders, & Dietz, 2010;Needham, 2008;Pettit, Lewinsohn, Seeley, Roberts, & Yaroslavsky, 2010). However, other research reports that rates of depressive symptoms increase from midto late-adolescence but remain stable from late adolescence into early adulthood (Hankin et al., 1998). Gender differences in these trajectories from adolescence to young adulthood have also been found showing increases in depressive symptoms across the transition to young adulthood for adolescent males, but not adolescent females (Leadbeater, Thompson, & Gruppuso, 2012).Efforts to understand the contexts that create risks for or protect against increases in internalizing symptoms or accelerate declines are needed to improve our understanding of individual differences in these patterns of change. In this study, we examine the effect of CIHR Author ManuscriptCIHR Author Manuscript CIHR Author Manuscript peer victimization on internalizing symptoms (including anxiety and depression) as well as the moderating effects of friend and parent emotional support among early and late adolescents across a 4-year period.Research consistently shows that peer victimization, the experience of being a target of a peer's bullying and aggressive behavior, is associated with increases in internalizing symptoms in children and in adolescents (Reijntjes, Kamphuis, Prinzie, & Telch, 2010;Rudolph, Troop-Gordon, Hessel, & Schmidt, 2011;Stadler, Feifel, Rohrmann, Vermeiren, & Poustka, 2010;Ttofi, Farrington, Lösel, & Lo...
Ample research suggests that peer victimization predicts social and psychological maladjustment, including emotional (e.g., anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression) and behavioral (e.g., aggression) problems among children. Thus, a reliable measure of peer victimization for research with young children is needed. The Social Experience Questionnaire-Self-Report (SEQ-S) has been widely used in existing research to assess children's victimization (Crick & Grotpeter, 1996). However, empirical support for the psychometric properties of the SEQ-S is limited by the methods used to evaluate it (i.e., exploratory as opposed to confirmatory analyses), by the lack of longitudinal data, and by the limited age ranges studied. This study examined the underlying factor structure of SEQ-S ratings across 3 time points in a sample of 830 early elementary school children using confirmatory factor analysis. The hypothesized model included 3 latent factors: overt victimization, relational victimization, and receipt of prosocial acts from peers. This model provided a good fit to the data at each time point. Although it is not clear that there is invariance, results indicate that invariance across time, sex, and grade could be present. Recommendations for continued use of the SEQ-S in future research on peer victimization with young children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
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