A Social Cognitive and Contextual Analysis of Peer Victimization Across the Middle School Years

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine peer victimization during the middle school years. Victimization is defined as the kind of bullying, terrorizing, or intimidation of targeted students that takes place in and around school where adult supervision is minimal. A longitudinal study is proposed that follows approximately 2000 6th graders as they enter one of nine middle schools in metropolitan Los Angeles. The schools will be selected to vary according to ethnic composition, but to be similar in terms of socioeconomic class of students, size, and overall achievement level. Data will be gathered twice yearly over the three middle school years on students' experiences with victimization, the perceived causes of such harassment, and indicators of psychological, social, and school adjustment. Statistical analyses will investigate change in all of these variables over time. The specific aims of the project are to : (1) examine the individual and contextual antecedents of victimization that are particularly salient during early adolescence such as ethnicity, pubertal timing, and one's position in the peer group; (2) investigate the consequences of victimization, including subjective well-being, rejection by peers, and school performance and attitudes; (3) test a model of the relations between victimization and adjustment that views self-blaming attributions as a key variables; and (4) explore the adjustment patterns of subtypes of victimized young adolescents who may be most at risk for psychological, social, and school dysfunction. Findings of the project will provide new insights into the dynamics of peer victimization and advance the field in several ways. First, the focus on early adolescence and the transition to middle school calls attention to the key developmental milestones of this age period, such as the onset of puberty, increasing salience of ethnic identity, and heightened concern about peer approval, that may have important implications for how one copes with victimization. Second, the concern with models that view antecedents and consequences of victimization as sets of interrelated variables provides a useful conceptual framework for organizing the growing literature on peer harassment. And thirdly, by examining growth and change in a longitudinal design, the study can shed light on the stability of victimization as well as both continuous and discontinous pathways to successful adaptation during the critical middle school years.