Peer victimization and adjustment

This study assessed the frequency of physical, verbal and relational victimization and examined the conditions under which maladjustment is associated with peer victimization. Information about victimization, social support, and social involvement was collected from 393 students (165 males, 226 females) aged 12 to 15 years. The Youth Self-Report ( YSR) (Achenbach, 1991a) was used to obtain information adjustment.;Victimized children reported higher levels of adjustment difficulties than a non-victimized comparison group, with 18% falling into the clinical range on the YSR. While victimization appeared to be more strongly related to internalizing problems, the relationship between victimization and externalizing was equivocal in that this relationship disappeared when the effect of bullying was controlled for.;Social support and social involvement were examined as potential moderators of adjustment, and protective factors for children who reported high levels of victimization. Contrary to the expectation that perceived social support and self-reported social involvement would moderate the negative effects of victimization, no support was found for such models. However, support was found for a main effects model where both victimization and social support were predictors of adjustment. Results indicated that students who are frequently victimized by their peers at school and feel that they have a limited social support network are more likely to report having adjustment difficulties. The information from this study is limited in that it is not clear whether the clinically significant behavioural and psychological difficulties reported by these individuals were present prior to their experiences of being victimized, or they were the result of being victimized. However, the results of this study stress the importance of attending to students who present as victims of peer harassment because they may be at risk for a range of clinically significant behavioural and psychological difficulties. This study extended current research by examining the association between victimization and externalizing and internalizing while controlling for the effects of bullying. It also examined the association of various types of self-reported victimization and duration of victimization with internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The implications of these findings for future research and intervention from a risk and resilience perspective are discussed.