Bidirectional longitudinal associations of perpetration and victimization of peer bullying with psychosocial problems in adolescents: A cross-lagged panel study

Abstract

Research on school bullying often focuses on the directional path of bullying and/or victimization leading to psychosocial problems, while such one-dimensional views have been shown to be too simplistic. Furthermore, recent research has shown that patterns of bullying at school differ for boys and girls, which makes gender a particularly relevant factor in exploring the causes and consequences of bullying. Therefore, the present study explored the bidirectional, longitudinal associations of bullying and bullying victimization on several psychosocial problems via a longitudinal cross-lagged panel study in 1243 adolescents in the Netherlands, while taking into account potential gender differences. Data were collected in September 2011 and 2012. Results showed that both bullied boys as well as girls reported more conduct problems at follow-up. Both boy and girl bullies reported less pro-social behavior and more peer problems at follow-up, but boys also reported more conduct problems at follow-up, while girls did not. Furthermore, in girls, emotional problems were associated with more victimization at follow-up, while inattention-hyperactivity problems and less pro-social behavior were related to increased chances of being a perpetrator of bully at follow-up. Conversely, in boys, baseline inattention-hyperactivity problems were not associated with being a bully later on, but rather with increased chances of being a bullying victim at later times. These results can help to tailor future anti-bullying interventions at schools.

Bi‐directional longitudinal associations between different types of bullying victimization, suicide ideation/attempts, and depression among a large sample of European adolescents

“…Most longitudinal studies have examined the impact of victimization on depression (Sweeting, Young, West, & Der, ; Takizawa, Maughan, & Arseneault, ; Zwierzynska, Wolke, & Lereya, ), while others have examined the impact of depression on becoming victimized (Tran, Cole, & Weiss, ). A few longitudinal studies have examined the bidirectional association between victimization and depression, generally indicating that there is a bidirectional association between the two (Busch, Laninga‐Wijnen, van Yperen, Schrijvers, & De Leeuw, ; Lester, Cross, Dooley, & Shaw, ; Reijntjes, Kamphuis, Prinzie, & Telch, ; Tran et al., ) which may be different among genders (McMahon, Reulbach, Corcoran et al., ; McMahon, Reulbach, Keeley, Perry, & Arensman, ; Sentse, Prinzie, & Salmivalli, ; Tran et al., ). These studies indicate that depression both precedes and follows victimization.…”

Does escaping victimization in elementary school lead to improved health in high school: a comparison of victimization profile groups

“…One possible explanation for the continuation of internalizing problems in escaped victims is the idea that early stressful experiences can set an individual on a depressed trajectory from which they may not be able to deviate, due to the tendency for a depressed person to withdraw from potentially beneficial social support systems (Petersen, ). A bidirectional relationship between victimization and psychological outcomes may also be to blame—depression and loneliness are not just consequences of being bullied, but are characteristics that often contribute to one's victim status (Busch, Laninga‐Wijnen, van Yperen, Schrijvers, & De Leeuw, ). Similarly, Park, Jensen‐Campbell, and Miller (in press) found that peer victims develop an overall lower threshold for social pain; i.e., peer victims report higher threatened self‐esteem, belongingness, meaningful existence, and control across a wider spectrum of social situations—even in those where they are obviously included and accepted.…”

Violent behavior among middle school children: The role of gender and personality traits

“…Разлози за овакво понашање објашњени су дифузијом одговорности или специфичностима процене насилног понашања од стране посматрача (Salmivalli, 2010), а резултати истраживања медијског дискурса показују да је чак и у медијима највише деце представљено кроз улогу посматрача (Torlak, 2016), упркос последицама које вршњачко понашање може да има и по насилника и по жртву у даљој временској перспективи (нпр. Arseneault et al, 2010;Busch et al, 2015;Kim et al, 2011). Ипак, у највећем броју истраживања више пажње се посвећује насилницима и жртвама управо због њихове "активне" улоге у насилној интеракцији и последица насиља по њихову социјалну адаптацију у каc-нијем развоју.…”