“Would You Be My Friend?”: Friendship Selection and Contagion Processes of Early Adolescents Who Experience Victimization

Abstract

Victimization in early adolescence can have severe negative consequences later in life. Friendships are especially important in this time period. The present study investigated friendship selection and influence (contagion) processes with regard to victimization, as well as prosocial and aggressive characteristics of victims’ friends. Using social network analyses (RSiena), we longitudinally analyzed data of five fourth-grade classrooms, including 185 students (56.8% girls; [Formula: see text] age at Time 1 = 10 years old). Results showed that early adolescents who experience peer victimization were not likely to select peers with similar levels of victimization as friends but selected prosocial peers as friends. Moreover, friends did not become more similar over time in their victimization levels. Prosocial students selected similar peers as friends. The discussion highlights the relevance of fostering positive peer relations for targeting victimization and discusses the defending role of friends in victimization situations.

Social Network Approaches to Bullying and Victimization

“…Selection and influence processes have been investigated with respect to victimization. Research in childhood generally does not find that friendships are based on similarity in victimization or that friends influence each other's level of victimization (Berger, Gremmen, Palacios, & Franco, 2019;, although one study found that defenders of victims in one school ran the risk of becoming victimized, thus, being "influenced" to take upon the role of victim (Huitsing et al, 2014). However, research in adolescence provides evidence for selection on the basis of general victimization (Lodder, Scholte, Cillessen, & Giletta, 2016), physical victimization (Sentse et al, 2013), or relational victimization (Sijtsema et al, 2013).…”

Disentangling dyadic and reputational perceptions of prosociality, aggression, and popularity in explaining friendship networks in early adolescence

“…Therefore, classrooms are stable environments in which peer relationships unfold. Despite this particularity, research into adolescent peer relationships using Chilean samples has shown patterns similar to those found in American and European populations (Berger et al., 2015, 2019).…”

On shaky grounds: Peer victimization predicts friendship instability across the ninth grade school year

“…Victimized adolescents may be viewed as undesirable companions by their peers or offer little social status benefit to current or new friends (Ellis & Zarbatany, 2007;Sentse et al, 2013), making it difficult for them to keep friends over time (Sijtsema et al, 2013). Alternatively, victimized adolescents may strategically and proactively search for new friends (e.g., prosocial friends) or those with a different victimization status (Berger et al, 2019;Meter & Card, 2016). Increases in victims' friendship instability later in the school year could therefore be the natural consequence of searching for close friendships that may help mitigate continued peer victimization.…”