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Moving against and away from the world: The adolescent legacy of peer victimization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2014

Karen D. Rudolph ,
Wendy Troop-Gordon ,
Jennifer D. Monti  and
Michelle E. Miernicki
Karen D. Rudolph*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
Wendy Troop-Gordon
Affiliation:
North Dakota State University
Jennifer D. Monti
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
Michelle E. Miernicki
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Karen D. Rudolph, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820; E-mail: krudolph@illinois.edu.
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Abstract

Nicki Crick initiated a generative line of theory and research aimed at exploring the implications of exposure to overt and relational aggression for youth development. The present study aimed to continue and expand this research by examining whether early (second grade) and increasing (second–sixth grade) levels of victimization during elementary school contributed to youths’ tendencies to move against, away from, or toward the world of peers following the transition to middle school. Youth (M age in second grade = 7.96 years, SD = 0.35; 338 girls, 298 boys) reported on their exposure to victimization and their social goals (performance-approach, performance-avoidance, or mastery). Teachers reported on youths’ exposure to victimization and their engagement in antisocial, socially helpless, and prosocial behavior. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that early and increasing levels of both overt and relational victimization uniquely contributed to multifinality in adverse developmental outcomes, predicting all three social orientations (high conflictual engagement, high disengagement, and low positive engagement). The pattern of effects was robust across sex and after adjusting for youths’ early social motivation. These findings confirm that both forms of victimization leave an enduring legacy on youths’ social health in adolescence. Given that profiles of moving against and away from the world can contribute to subsequent psychopathology, understanding and preventing this legacy is pivotal for developing effective intervention programs aimed at minimizing the effects of peer adversity.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 26 , Special Issue 3: The Legacy of Nicki R. Crick's Contributions to Developmental Psychopathology , August 2014 , pp. 721 - 734
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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