Peer victimization during early adolescence: An injury trigger, an injury mechanism and a frequent exposure in school

Abstract

There is a documented effect of peer victimization in school as an injury trigger, but the question of differences between children according to age and sex remains unexplored. Nor do we know the role played by school peer victimization as a direct injury mechanism. Objective: The study considered age and sex differences with regard to peer victimization's triggering effect on physical injury, its direct relation to injury (i.e. physical violence), and its age-and gender-specific frequency and manner of occurrence. Method·. Data were gathered through structured interviews with children aged 10-15 years, residing in Stockholm County in Sweden during two consecutive school years, and who had been hospitalized due to injury (n= 592). Results: Peer victimization operated on injury risk -both indirectly as a trigger of injurious events (most of which are unintentional), and directly as a causal mechanism in relation to intentional physical harm. Further, intentionally injured children frequently knew their offender(s) -often from school -and, in those instances, had been previously victimized by them. There is a quantitative and a qualitative difference in the manner in which occasional and frequent victims are victimized by their peers. Conclusion: Peer victimization impacts on children's safety and is a common element in the school background of many children. Differences between occasional and frequent victims in forms and consequences of victimization are more remarkable than those based on sex and age of the child, with the exception of victimization as a direct cause of injury.

The role of alcohol and drugs in triggering criminal violence: a case‐crossover study*

“…The method has been used mainly to investigate triggers of somatic disease (e.g. [41,42]) but has also been applied in the study of injuries and traffic accidents [43–45]. The basis for the method is to compare exposure during a determined time period prior to a studied event (the case window) with the exposure during a control period selected from the same individual.…”

Verbal abuse in school. Constructions of gender among 14‐ to 15‐year‐olds

“…However, few studies focus specifically on verbal abuse in itself. Studies of children and youth tend aim at understanding narrower concepts such as teasing, name-calling, insults, threats (Blatchford 1998, Tannock 1999, Eder et al 1997, Evaldsson 2005, Benoit 1983, sexual verbal abuse (Duncan 1999, Lahelma 2002, Larkin 1994, Lees 1993, Mahony 1989, Witkowska 2005, Ambjörnsson 2004, or the long-term harassment of individual students in the context of bullying (Olweus 1992, Rigby 2000, Laflamme et al 2003, rather than looking at aggressive communication between students as a whole.…”

“…The prevalence of verbal aggression at school, based on studies of aggression and bullying, is highest between ages 11-15 (Björkqvist et al 1992, Toldos 2005, Perry et al 1988, Osbeck et al 2003. Direct physical forms of aggression are seen to be replaced increasingly by direct verbal and indirect forms, which have been interpreted as requiring more developed verbal and social skills (Björkqvist et al 1992, Laflamme et al 2003. According to Björkqvist et al (1992) girls start this transition earlier than boys, but at the age of 15, verbal aggression is the most commonly used aggressive strategy among both girls and boys.…”

Do episodes of peer victimization trigger physical injury? A case-crossover study of Swedish school children

“…Further, as might be expected [19], most parents agreed to their child being interviewed, and most children approved of the interview (in total 86%). A brief questionnaire on family social circumstances was also filled in by parents while their children were being interviewed (response rate 87%) (for further information, see [12][13][14]). …”

“…Whether acts of victimization might also have short-term effects on pupils' physical safety and injury risks, apart from the obvious risk of getting injured when physically victimized, has not been much investigated [12][13][14]. It is likely, however, that emotions of fear, anger, or sadness, triggered by physical or verbal peer victimization, could impede children's risk anticipation and risk management by, for example, disturbing their concentration and attention processes [15].…”