Concurrent and longitudinal associations of developmental language disorder with peer victimization in adolescence: evidence from a co-twin study.

BACKGROUND: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) experience higher levels of peer victimization than their peers. However, it is not known if such associations reflect genetic and environmental confounding. We used a co-twin control design to investigate the association of language difficulties (DLD and separately poor pragmatic language) with peer victimization and compare the developmental trajectories of peer victimization across adolescence for those with and without language difficulties. METHODS: Participants were 3,400 pairs of twins in the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), a UK-based population birth cohort. Language abilities were assessed via online tests at age 11 and peer victimization was self-reported at ages 11, 14 and 16. Language difficulties were defined as language abilities at least -1.25 SD below the mean of the TEDS sample. We performed linear regressions and latent growth curve modeling at a population level and within monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twin pairs. RESULTS: At population level, youth with DLD experienced higher levels of peer victimization at ages 11 (ß = 0.27, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.20-0.35), 14 (ß = 0.15, 95% CI 0.03-0.27) and 16 (ß = 0.17, 95% CI 0.03-0.32) and a sharper decline in peer victimization between ages 11 and 16 compared to their peers without DLD. The associations between DLD and peer victimization were reduced in strength and not statistically significant in within-twin models. Moreover, there was no difference in the rate of change in peer victimization between twin pairs discordant for DLD. Results were similar for the association of poor pragmatic language with peer victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Associations between language difficulties (DLD and separately, poor pragmatic language) and peer victimization were confounded by genetic and shared environmental factors. Identifying specific factors underlying these associations is important for guiding future work to reduce peer victimization among adolescents with language difficulties.

The association of sexual minority status and bullying victimization is modified by sex and grade: findings from a nationally representative sample.

BACKGROUND: Sexual minority status is associated with face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying victimization. However, limited studies have investigated whether such a relationship differs by sex or grade in a nationally representative sample. METHODS: We concatenated the national high school data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) chronologically from 2015 to 2019, resulting in a sample of 32,542 high school students. We constructed models with the interaction term between sexual minority status and biological sex assigned at birth to test the effect modification by sex on both the multiplicative and additive scales. A similar method was used to test the effect modification by grade. RESULTS: Among heterosexual students, females had a higher odds of being bullied than males, while among sexual minority students, males had a higher odds of being bullied. The effect modification by sex was significant on both the multiplicative and additive scales. We also found a decreasing trend of bullying victimization as the grade increased among both heterosexual and sexual minority students. The effect modification by the grade was significant on both the multiplicative and the additive scale. CONCLUSIONS: Teachers and public health workers should consider the difference in sex and grade when designing prevention programs to help sexual minority students.

Social poverty indicators with school bullying victimization: evidence from the global school-based student health survey (GSHS).

BACKGROUND: School bullying is prevalent in children and adolescents. Bullying victims are seen higher risk of negative psychological outcomes. Previously published studies suggested that social indicators may pose significant influence on bullying victimization. However, the association between social poverty and bullying victimization has not been exclusively discussed. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed the association between 6 commonly used social poverty indicators (Poverty Headcount Ratio, PHR; Poverty Gap, PG; Squared Poverty Gap, SPG; monthly household per capita income, PCI; Watts' Poverty Index, WPI; the Gini Index, Gini) and the prevalence of school bullying at country level by using the Global school-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) database. RESULTS: Altogether 16 countries were included into the final analysis, with school bullying victimization prevalence ranged from 12.9 to 47.5%. Bubble plots revealed statistically significant associations between the three indicators measuring absolute poverty level (PHR, PCI, WPI) and bullying victimization. Subsequently performed principal component regression indicated that, for all types of bullying victimization, the increase of absolute poverty level was related to elevated prevalence rates, and the association was particularly strong for verbal bullying victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Our study results may suggest that absolute social poverty is an important parameter for constructing and implementing school bullying victimization intervention strategies and measures.

The reciprocal relationship between child maltreatment and children's bullying victimization in China.

Children who experience physical and psychological maltreatment within their family are more likely to become victims of abuse outside the family. In Chinese culture, children's victimization may also be a precursor to parenting behaviors. Nevertheless, the reciprocal relationship between child maltreatment and children's bullying victimization remains unclear, particularly in Chinese culture. This study aimed to evaluate the reciprocal association between child maltreatment and children's bullying victimization in China, as well as its gender differences. A total of 891 children aged 8-11 years in China participated in the study at four time points. The potential reciprocal link was examined using a cross-lagged model. The results indicated that physical abuse predicted children's bullying victimization across four time points, while physical neglect predicted children's bullying victimization during the first three time points. The effects of emotional abuse and neglect were negligible. Conversely, children's bullying victimization consistently predicted various types of parental maltreatment over time. Some gender differences in the relationship were found. The findings emphasized a reciprocal relationship between child maltreatment within the family and children's bullying victimization at school. Understanding the cyclical patterns between child maltreatment and bullying victimization may help improve family education approaches and reduce children's bullying victimization.

How receiving welfare assistance could be linked to children's bullying victimization: Exploring the potential pathways.

The study proposes and tests the pathways from receiving welfare assistance to children's bullying victimization. Specifically, the study examines whether children's difficulty making friends and school disconnection mediate the association between welfare assistance receipt to children's bullying victimization. The 2019 National Survey of Children's Health dataset was used, and the sample consisted of 12,230 caregivers of adolescents, aged 12-17 years. A path model was utilized to explore the proposed pathways. Findings suggest that welfare assistance receipt was not significantly associated with children's bullying victimization. It was positively related to children's bullying victimization through the mediating roles of having difficulty making friends and school disconnection. Schools and communities need to create spaces where youth can connect with peers, which is an important part of their development.

Proposing and testing the pathways from bullying victimization to bringing a weapon to school.

OBJECTIVE: The current study examined whether bullying victimization was associated with bringing a weapon to school, fully or partly mediated by feeling unsafe in school, negative future education orientation, and skipping school. METHOD: Data from 6199 students (12-18 years old), who had filled out the 2017 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, were analyzed. RESULTS: The results showed a positive association between bullying victimization and bringing a weapon to school. The link was both direct and indirect through the mediating roles of feeling unsafe in school, having a negative future education orientation, and skipping school. CONCLUSION: Thus, victims of bullying tended to feel unsafe in school, have a negative future education orientation, and skip school-all of which were positively associated with bringing a weapon to school.

Traditional and Race-based Bullying in Racial-Minority Majority and Racially Diverse Schools.

Few studies in the U.S. have simultaneously examined general and race-based bullying with consideration of school-level racial composition. The current study examined victimization as a function of school racial composition, in minority-majority and diverse schools (N = 1911, Mage = 13.7 years) enrolled in 7th grade in 24 public schools (42.3% Hispanics, 9.0% non-Hispanic White, 28.9% non-Hispanic Black, and 19.7% non-Hispanic Asian). Multilevel regression analyses suggest student-level protective factors related to both forms of victimization, but, school racial composition was only significant in explaining race-based bullying. Specifically, minority-majority schools had lower levels of race-based victimization compared to racially diverse schools. Findings suggest that consideration of school contextual factors offers a more nuanced understanding of the relation between race and victimization.

Socio-Economic Status and Bullying Victimization in India: A Study About Social Misfit and Minority Perception.

The Social Misfit Theory, which states that some individuals deviate from what is normative in a community and may therefore be more likely to be victimized, has mostly been studied in Western countries. The current study addresses in a longitudinal sample whether socio-economic minorities (SES) in the classroom (a contextual SES minority) are more likely to become victims of bullying in India, and whether the relation between minority status and victimization is mediated by perception of oneself as a minority. The current study used three waves separated by three month intervals. A sample of youth from Indore India (grades 7 to 9; N = 1238; M-ageT1 = 13.15, SD = 1.16, 24 percent girls) was used. It was found that being a contextual SES minority was related to more victimization, but only when the contextual status was corroborated by the perceived minority status. However, over time, being part of a contextual minority predicted decreased victimization, possibly pointing to normative beliefs and values in the Indian context. The results of this study are in contrast to the Social Misfit Theory, but do support self-perception as a mediator.

Trends in Bullying Victimization and Social Unsafety for Sexually and Gender Diverse Students.

Research has documented trends in bullying victimization for sexually diverse adolescents in the US, but trends regarding school social unsafety are understudied and there is a dearth of research examining these trends for gender diverse adolescents. This study aimed to identify disparities in bullying victimization and feelings of social unsafety in schools for sexually and gender diverse adolescents. Data stem from the 2014 (N = 15,800; M age = 14.17, SD = 1.50), 2016 (N = 22,310; M age = 14.17, SD = 1.49), and 2018 (N = 10,493; M age = 14.02, SD = 1.52) survey cycles of the Social Safety Monitor, a Dutch cross-sectional school-based study. Findings indicate that sexual orientation disparities remained relatively small, but stable over time, while gender diverse adolescents remained more likely to be victimized and feel unsafe in school, with larger disparities overall. Monitoring these trends is highly relevant, especially considering recent negative developments regarding societal acceptance of sexual and gender diversity.

Longitudinal and Reciprocal Effects in the Association Between School Bullying and Homicidal Ideation During Early Adolescence.

Several cross-sectional studies indicated a positive association between school bullying and homicidal ideation during early adolescence. However, few longitudinal studies investigated this association. This study examined whether a bi-directional relationship exists within the longitudinal association between bullying victimization or bullying perpetration and homicidal ideation among early adolescents using a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model. A total of 1611 early adolescents (39.5% girls; Mage = 12.50 years, SD = 0.50) were recruited from the Chinese Early Adolescents Cohort study. Data on bullying victimization, bullying perpetration, and homicidal ideation collected during three time points (September 2019, September 2020, and September 2021) were used. Bullying victimization showed a significant positive association with homicidal ideation at the between-person level. Bullying victimization and bullying perpetration had a bi-directional relationship with homicidal ideation at the within-person level. Additionally, this study considered the impact of biological sex-based differences and bullying types on adolescents' homicidal ideation. Based on these findings, school bullying might exhibit unique reciprocal associations with homicidal ideation.

Peer Bullying Victimization Trajectories for Sexually and Gender Diverse Youth from Early Childhood to Late Adolescence.

Sexually and gender diverse (SGD) youth experience more peer bullying victimization than heterosexual, cisgender youth during adolescence, yet the emergence and persistence of these disparities remain underexplored. Also, it is unclear which factors are associated with these disparities across development, and how these disparities are linked to late adolescent health discrepancies. This study utilized the sample from the Millennium Cohort Study in Britain (N = 10,080; 51.3% assigned female at birth; Mage = 2.28, SDage = 0.46 at Wave 2), in which 23.74% of youth reported non-heterosexual attraction, 21.59% reported non-heterosexual identity, and 1.08% reported gender identity not in line with the sex assigned at birth. Using latent class growth modeling, four peer bullying victimization trajectories were identified, with early peak (7.2%), late childhood peak (6.3%), adolescence onset (12.8%), and low (73.6%) rates of victimization. SGD youth, compared to heterosexual and cisgender youth, were found to have increased odds of being in the victimization-involved classes, especially the adolescence onset class. The study further revealed that SGD youth reported more mental health and relational difficulties in childhood, which were linked to their heightened risk of longer-lasting victimization. Further, long-term victimization was found to partially account for the disparities in health and well-being for SGD youth in late adolescence. In conclusion, SGD youth were more likely to experience longer-lasting bullying victimization during childhood and adolescence, its related mental and relational vulnerabilities were already established in childhood, and such victimization disparities were further linked to their detrimental health and well-being in late adolescence. The design, hypotheses, and target analyses of the current study were preregistered on 21st April 2023 at https://osf.io/f2zxy .

From childhood bullying victimization to resilience in emerging adulthood.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to explore how resilience is manifested in the experiences of emerging adults who were subjected to bullying victimization in school and have high levels of psychological functioning in emerging adulthood. METHODS: Fifteen Swedish emerging adults (Mage = 29.13, SD = 0.52) who, despite experiences of bullying victimization at age 10, had high levels of psychological functioning as emerging adults were interviewed. The interviews focused on experiences of bullying victimization and the long-term outcomes of these experiences. Qualitative methods were used in the analysis, with a specific focus on resilience. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: The findings illustrate how long-term outcomes of bullying victimization in school, in relation to resilience, comprise a dynamic process between personal agency and social resources in the environmental context.

Association Between School Bullying Victimization and Sexual Risk-Taking among South Korean Adolescents: The Role of Teacher and Parental Relationships.

Despite the wealth of research investigating the adverse consequences of bullying, few studies have tested how bullying victimization is related to risky sexual behavior, such as unprotected sex among adolescents. To fill this gap, the current study examined the association between bullying victimization and the non-use of condoms, considering the moderating role of teacher and parental relationships. We employed a series of logistic regression models to examine these relationships among a sample of sexually active Korean adolescents (n = 153; ages 11-17 years old). Results showed that bullying victimization was significantly related to greater non-use of condoms. Moreover, relationships with teachers and parents moderated the impact of bullying victimization on non-use of condoms, suggesting that positive relationships with teachers and parents exerted buffering impacts against sexual risk-taking behavior for bullying victims. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

Understanding the Dynamics of Unwanted Online Sexual Solicitation Among Youth in Taiwan: Vulnerability and Resilience Factors.

The rise in online sexual exposure and solicitation among youth has heightened concerns. Youth, due to their limited socio-cognitive capacity, face greater risks of online sexual victimization compared to adults. Unwanted online sexual solicitation (UOSS) is a concerning aspect of sexual victimization, encompassing requests for unwanted sexual talks, activities, and sharing personal sexual information or images online. This study, based on target congruence theory, examined UOSS risk and protective factors using a national-representative youth sample in Taiwan. In 2020, 19,556 students (Grades 5-12, average age 15, 50% male) participated in the school-based online survey. Hierarchical linear regression was used to determine the significance of UOSS predictors. Findings revealed a 15.4% prevalence of UOSS. Accounting for age and gender, target-vulnerability variables (self-esteem, bullying victimization, psychological distress) and target-gratifiability variables (online self-disclosure, time spent online) significantly linked to UOSS. Youth who were bullied, had greater psychological distress and online self-disclosure, and increased Internet use were prone to UOSS, while self-esteem mitigated risks. Bullying victimization and online self-disclosure were the strongest correlates of UOSS in Taiwan's youth, followed by psychological distress, Internet usage, and self-esteem. In sum, this study enriches the understanding of UOSS among Taiwanese youth and suggests strategies to prevent online sexual victimization. Enhancing self-esteem, promoting social media education including online privacy and self-disclose, tackling bullying, addressing psychological distress, and furnishing relevant services are crucial preventive measures. These findings offer guidance to parents, educators, and health professionals for supervising and steering adolescents' online conduct, presenting an evidence-based framework to avert online sexual victimization.

Association between bullying victimization and post-traumatic stress disorders among Chinese adolescents: a multiple mediation model.

BACKGROUND: Research that focused on the mechanisms underlying the relation between school bullying victimization and PTSD ignored the simultaneous effect of emotional and cognitive factors, which may limit our comprehensive understanding of their roles. Besides, most researchers included non-bullying victims in data analysis, and this may mask the true effect among bullying victims. The present study aimed to explore the relation between bullying victimization and PTSD, and the mediating roles of social anxiety, loneliness, and rumination, after filtering out non-bullying victims. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In April 2019, we used convenience sampling to recruit 5013 students from Grade 10 and 11 in two high schools in Anhui Province, China. The mean age of these students was 16.77 (SD = 0.92) years. They completed five self-report questionnaires including the Delaware Bullying Victimization Scale-Student Chinese Revision (DBVS-S), the modified PTSD Checklist, the Social Anxiety Scale, the Adolescent Loneliness Scale, and the Rumination Scale. Further, a total of 443 bullying victims were screened out for this study according to the critical score of the DBVS-S. RESULTS: The results showed that bullying victimization had a direct and positive association with PTSD among adolescents (ß = 0.16, 95%CI: 0.046-0.252). Bullying victimization was positively associated with PTSD through increasing adolescents' social anxiety (ß = 0.06, 95%CI: 0.017-0.105), as well as through increasing their loneliness (ß = 0.16, 95%CI: 0.109-0.215). In addition, bullying victimization was positively associated with PTSD through social anxiety via loneliness (ß = 0.04, 95%CI: 0.013-0.067), as well as through loneliness via rumination (ß = 0.02, 95%CI: 0.003-0.033). Bullying victimization was also positively associated with PTSD through a three-step path from social anxiety to rumination via loneliness (ß = 0.004, 95%CI: 0.001-0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Social anxiety, loneliness, and rumination have important mediating effects in the relation between bullying victimization and adolescents' PTSD, in which emotional factors (e.g., social anxiety, loneliness) are more crucial than cognitive factors (e.g., rumination). Intervention should pay more attention to timely alleviate victims' emotional problems to reduce the risk of developing PTSD.

The longitudinal associations between bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, and internalizing symptoms: Bidirectionality and mediation by friend support.

Internalizing symptoms have been linked to bullying perpetration and victimization in adolescence. However, the directions of any causal relationships remain unclear, and limited research has identified the mechanisms that explain the associations. Given the salience of peer relationships during the teenage years, we examine whether perceived support from friends is one such mechanism. By using a transactional framework and four waves of longitudinal panel data on over 900 youth, we test both cross-lagged and indirect associations between bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, internalizing symptoms, and perceived friend support. Our method represents one of the most rigorous tests to date of the mutual influences among these factors. The results show that internalizing symptoms and perceived friend support were reciprocally linked to bullying victimization, but perceived support did not predict internalizing symptoms, and bullying perpetration neither preceded nor followed perceived support or internalizing symptoms. There were no significant indirect paths between bullying involvement and internalizing symptoms through perceived friend support. The results provide only partial support for a transactional model in which bullying victimization, support, and internalizing symptoms are reciprocally related. The implications of these findings for theory, future research, and practice are discussed.

Bullying Perpetration and Victimization as Social Mechanisms in the Development of Borderline Personality Traits during Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study.

INTRODUCTION: Borderline personality features are often associated with toxic social relationships and problematic peer functioning. Less is known, however, about the extent to which bullying experiences may shape the development and maintenance of borderline-related traits during crucial periods of rapid normative developments in impulse and emotion regulation skills. Given the core interpersonal character of borderline personality pathology (BPP), such research focus may be relevant to better understand possible causal social mechanisms in the development of personality difficulties within the borderline trait spectrum. METHOD: The current longitudinal study examined whether experiences of both bullying perpetration and victimization in pre-adolescence mediated the developmental course of BPP traits between childhood and adolescence. To examine these associations, a sample of children (N = 242; 57% girls; Mage = 10.87 years) was recruited and followed up 1 and 4 years later. RESULTS: Mediation analysis indicated that the prospective link between child and adolescent BPP trait vulnerability was shaped by pre-adolescent experiences of bullying victimization, but not by bullying perpetration. DISCUSSION: These results indicate that the continuity between child and adolescent borderline trait features are partly explained by exposure to bullying victimization, indicating that the impact of environmental invalidation on BPP development also extends to the peer context.

Bullying victimization and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents: the roles of belief in a just world and classroom-level victimization.

Studies have demonstrated that bullying victimization is a risk factor for depressive symptoms; however, little is known about the underlying processes that may mediate or moderate this relationship. To address this research gap, this study examined the mediating effects of personal and general belief in a just world (BJW) and the moderating effect of classroom-level victimization on the relationship between bullying victimization and depressive symptoms. Using a short-term longitudinal design, two-wave data were obtained from 2,551 Chinese adolescents (initial age = 12.99 ± 0.61, 52.2% boys) from 47 classes over 6 months. The results indicated that Time 1 personal BJW mediated the relationship between Time 1 bullying victimization and Time 2 depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the mediating effect of Time 1 personal BJW was moderated by Time 1 classroom-level victimization; this effect was stronger for adolescents in classrooms with low levels of victimization. These findings contribute to our understanding of how and when bullying victimization impacts youth depressive symptoms. Education practitioners should pay special attention to personal BJW in victimized adolescents, especially when classroom-level victimization is low.

Child abuse and individual traits related to developmental trajectories of bullying victimization: An integrated, multitheoretical approach.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents who experience prior victimization such as child abuse within the home and experience low self-esteem/depression are at higher risk of repetitive bullying victimization when compared to those without such experiences. Recent scholarship has explored growth trajectories of bullying during adolescent development; however, relatively little is known about distinct trajectory patterns of bullying victimization across adolescent development. The current study identifies unobserved subgroups thus capturing the heterogeneity in developmental pathways in bullying victimization. METHOD: The current study uniquely utilized a multitheoretical approach to help explain the phenomenon of bullying victimization among a national sample of 2,190 youth in South Korea from 2010 to 2016. Theories tested include the integrated approach of target congruence, lifestyle and routine activities theories (LRAT), and the state dependence and population heterogeneity perspectives. To conduct this analysis, we performed a three-step latent class growth analysis. RESULTS: The study revealed three distinct trajectory groups. Korean adolescents who had higher levels of low self-esteem demonstrated greater odds of belonging to both the early-onset and decreasing and increasing and late peak groups. Those who had low-self-esteem and were depressed demonstrated greater odds of belonging to the early-onset and decreasing group. Prior experience of child abuse for the early-onset and decreasing group was fully mediated by the measures of target congruence and lifestyles. CONCLUSION: The current study contributes to research on developmental victimization by demonstrating the utility of integrating target congruence variables with lifestyle-routine activity concepts in explaining heterogeneity.

Effect of prosocial behavior on school bullying victimization among children and adolescents: Peer and student-teacher relationships as mediators.

INTRODUCTION: In this study, we examined the relationship between prosocial behavior and school bullying victimization in children and adolescents. We also tested the mediating effects of peer alienation and student-teacher closeness, as well as the moderating effect of the educational stage. METHODS: In total, 538 children and adolescents were recruited from three suburban schools in Beijing, China (252 boys, 286 girls; mean age = 12.47; 237 elementary school students, 101 middle school students, and 200 high school students). The participants were asked to complete the measures of prosocial behavior, peer alienation, and student-teacher closeness at the initial time point and reported school bullying victimization 3 months later. RESULTS: We found that prosocial behavior was directly and negatively associated with traditional bullying victimization (i.e., physical, nonphysical, and relational); however, it had no direct association with cyberbullying victimization. Prosocial behavior was indirectly associated with school bullying victimization (except in the relational dimension) via peer alienation, but no indirect effect of student-teacher closeness was found. Besides, the associations between prosocial behavior, peer alienation, student-teacher closeness, and bullying victimization were found equally among elementary, middle, and high school students. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that prosocial behavior is an important factor associated with decreased school bullying victimization, and peer relationships play a mediating role in this association. Our study extends the current understanding of prosocial behavior primarily as a consequence of child and adolescent development to an antecedent (of school bullying victimization), which contributes to a more comprehensive view of prosocial behavior.