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The expression and regulation of negative emotions: Risk factors for young children's peer victimization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2004

LAURA D. HANISH ,
NANCY EISENBERG ,
RICHARD A. FABES ,
TRACY L. SPINRAD ,
PATTI RYAN  and
SHANA SCHMIDT
LAURA D. HANISH
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
NANCY EISENBERG
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
RICHARD A. FABES
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
TRACY L. SPINRAD
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
PATTI RYAN
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
SHANA SCHMIDT
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
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Abstract

Using a short-term longitudinal design, internalizing and externalizing emotions were examined as risk factors for being victimized by peers in early childhood. Regulation, aggression, and withdrawal were also tested as mediators. We found that anger, mediated by aggression and regulation, positively predicted being victimized, although the way in which anger related to victimization risk varied for boys and girls and across time. These findings were robust, particularly for girls, attesting to the importance of externalizing variables as risk factors for young children's victimization. Support for internalizing variables as risk factors for being victimized was weak. The implications of the findings for developmental models connecting symptomatology and victimization are discussed.The authors thank all of the students, children, parents, and teachers who participated in this research. Richard A. Fabes and Nancy Eisenberg were funded in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 HH55052 and R01 MH60838) and a Research Scientist Award to Nancy Eisenberg (K05 M801321). Laura D. Hanish was funded by an Arizona State University Faculty Grant-in-Aid. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 108th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, August 2000, Washington, DC.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2004 , pp. 335 - 353
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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