We explored linkages among different components of emotional competence and bullying and victimization in children enrolled in community after school programs. Seventy-seven children were recruited from after school programs and their display rule knowledge for sadness and anger was evaluated. Their emotion self-regulation skills and bullying experiences were also assessed. Knowledge of display rules for sadness was a negative predictor of physical victimization whereas emotional lability/negativity was positively related to bullying. Boys bullied more than girls and family income was negatively related to bullying and emotional lability/negativity and positively associated with emotion self-regulation. Emotion self-regulation mediated the relation between family income and bullying. Analyses also suggested that bullies and bully-victims had poorer emotion self-regulation skills than non-bullies/victims or victims.

Introduction There are potential long‐term psychosocial effects of experiencing peer victimization during adolescence, including: internalizing symptoms, externalizing behaviors, and risks behaviors such as substance use. While social‐emotional theories of development note associations between deficits in emotion competencies and peer victimization in childhood, these associations are less established among adolescent samples. Identifying which inadequacies in emotional competence place particular adolescents at risk for peer victimization may provide insight into the developmental pathways leading to unfavorable outcomes. Methods The current study examined the relation between emotional competence and overt peer victimization among adolescents. Adolescents living in a mid‐sized urban city in the southeastern region of the United States (N = 357; Mage = 12.14 years, 92% African American) reported their emotional awareness and reluctance to express emotion at baseline. Two years later, adolescents reported their regulation of anger and caregivers reported on adolescents' global emotion regulation. Adolescents also reported on occurrences of overt peer victimization during the previous 30 days at baseline and during the two‐year follow up. Results Our hypothesized model fit the data adequately. Greater emotion awareness was associated with higher scores on caregiver‐rated emotion regulation and adolescent‐rated anger regulation two years later, and in turn, lower frequencies of overt victimization by peers. Further, greater expressive reluctance was associated with greater anger regulation, and in turn, lower frequencies of overt victimization by peers. Patterns of associations did not vary by sex or age. Conclusions The present study extends models of social‐emotional development and peer interactions into the development age stage of adolescence.