Speakers
Description
Integrative Statement: Bullying experiences early in development can have life-long adverse consequences. Longitudinal studies can help reveal understanding the individual, social, and psychological antecedents and outcomes of bullying perpetration and victimization. In this symposium, four papers that integrate multi-informant, multi-method procedures for examining the development of bullying from childhood to young adulthood will be presented. Data were from the McMaster Teen Study, a longitudinal 16-year study following a cohort of over 700 Canadian individuals annually from age 10 to 26. In the first paper, longitudinal associations between victimization and student-teacher relationships were examined across four years of elementary school from Grade 5 to 8. In the second paper, child-parent relationships were examined through concordance versus discordance between child-reported and parent-reported bullying victimization in the prediction of anxiety symptoms across childhood and adolescence from Grade 5 to 12. In the third paper, between-person and within-person developmental associations among self-reported bullying perpetration, popularity, and approval seeking were examined across the high school years from Grade 9 to 12. In the fourth paper, trajectories of bullying victimization across high school from Grade 9 to 12 were examined in the prediction of diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during adulthood using clinical interview assessments, after controlling for additional traumatic events. Findings highlight the importance of early identification of the developmental antecedents of bullying perpetration and victimization to prevent adverse parent, teacher, and peer relationships as well as mental health symptoms and diagnoses in the long-term.
Keywords
longitudinal; bullying perpetration; peer victimization; mental health; risk factors
Additional field for symposia
Paper 1: Bullying Victimization and Teacher-Student Relationships
Authors:
Marie Aurora Nordahl, University of Oslo
Amanda Krygsman, University of Ottawa
Heather Brittain, University of Ottawa
Ann Farrell, Brock University
Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa
Abstract: Bullying victimization in childhood and adolescence is a public health problem with long-term impacts on health and well-being, making the identification of protective factors crucial. Good relationships between teachers and students are widely recognized as vital for positive youth development. Beyond establishing rules and expectations, warm and close teacher-student relationships may help internalize values that protect from bullying victimization. Understanding this dynamic can inform prevention efforts. Our aim was to investigate whether teacher-student relationships serve as a protective factor against bullying victimization. Using data from 701 children (52.9% girls) from the longitudinal McMaster Teen study in Ontario, Canada, path analysis was used to investigate associations between bullying victimization at four time points (Grade 5 to Grade 8) and teacher-student relationships at two time points (Grade 5 and Grade 6). The model showed good fit (RMSEA=0.013, 90%CI [0.00, 0.06], SRMR=0.013, CFI=0.999, TLI=0.996). Preliminary results show that teacher-student relationships were negatively correlated with bullying victimization in Grade 5 (r=-.23, p<.001) and in Grade 6 (r=-.194, p<.001), suggesting that the relationship between teachers and students can serve as a protective factor against bullying victimization. Bullying victimization in Grade 5 was associated with later teacher-student relationships in Grade 6 (β =-.12, p=.006), indicating that early victimization may undermine the development of positive teacher-student relationships. These findings suggest that while strong teacher-student relationships can reduce bullying, early victimization experiences may also hinder the formation of these relationships. Our study underscores the importance of fostering positive teacher-student relationships in school to potentially mitigate bullying victimization.
Paper 2: Suffering in silence: Youth whose parents do not know they are being bullied are far more anxious than those whose parents know
Authors:
Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa
Heather Brittain, University of Ottawa
Amanda Krygsman, University of Ottawa
Ann Farrell, Brock University
Abstract:
Studies have shown that when bullied youth ask for help from a trusted adult about their plight, their exposure to bullying is reduced (Craig et al., 2000). Our purpose was to examine if telling a parent about bullying was associated with better mental outcomes, specifically reduced anxiety levels. Toward this end, we examined concordant versus discordant reports of bullying victimization using annual assessments from Grade 5 to Grade 12 provided by youth and their parents (N=703; Mage=10.91 in Grade 5). Results indicated that many parents were unaware of their child’s exposure to bullying victimization at school. This was especially true as their child aged. For example, in Grade 5, 44% of participants’ parents knew they were being bullied and by Grade 10, only 14% of parents knew. Results also indicated that at each point assessed, youth whose parents were unaware that they were being bullied were far more likely to report being anxious than bullied youth whose parents knew about their abuse. The results highlight that educators and clinicians should encourage youth to tell their parents about their experiences with bullying. Sharing their experiences can be a source of comfort, understanding, and reassurance, which can alleviate feelings of anxiety.
Paper 3: Bullying Perpetration, Popularity, and Approval Seeking Across Adolescence: Separating Between and Within Person Associations
Authors:
Ann Farrell Brock University
Heather Brittain, University of Ottawa
Amanda Krygsman, University of Ottawa
Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa
Abstract:
Adolescent bullying perpetration has been associated with higher popularity in concurrent and longitudinal studies. However, it is unclear whether perpetrators of bullying seek to acquire or maintain popularity, and whether this preoccupation with popularity results in heightened peer validation and approval seeking. It is also unclear whether these developmental processes occur at the between person (trait-like, stable) or within person (state-like, fluctuating) levels. Therefore, we examined the temporal associations among bullying perpetration, self-reported popularity, and approval seeking. Specifically, we examined negative approval seeking, or the extent to which negative self-views are based on peer disapproval. We examined these associations in a cohort of Canadian adolescents followed annually from ages 15 to 18 using random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (n= 544, 55.7% girls; 75.9% White). Between person associations revealed a significant positive correlation between bullying perpetration and approval seeking. In addition, being a girl predicted higher approval seeking whereas being a boy predicted higher popularity. Within person associations revealed that increases in popularity predicted subsequent increases in bullying perpetration. However, within each time point, increases in bullying perpetration were concurrently related to increases in popularity and increases in approval seeking. Findings highlight the importance of separating between person and within person developmental processes. Given that popularity initiated the prediction of bullying, and bullying was simultaneously associated with popularity and approval seeking at the within person level, facilitating popularity in prosocial ways combined with ways to reduce extrinsic validation from peers may be effective avenues for anti-bullying efforts among adolescents.
Paper 4 Title: Bullying Victimization in Adolescence and PTSD in Adulthood
Authors:
Thormod Idsoe, University of Oslo
Amanda Krygsman, University of Ottawa
Heather Brittain, University of Ottawa
Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa
Abstract: Even though a clear association has been established between bullying victimization among children and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), only two studies have reported a potential association with a diagnosis of PTSD and neither of these studies rule out the possibility that the diagnosis was caused by other traumatic events. The aim of our study was to assess longitudinal trajectories of bullying victimization among adolescents from grades 9 through 12 and examine whether these trajectories predicted a diagnosis of PTSD in young adulthood (ages 19 to 22), controlling for other potential traumatic events like child maltreatment and dating violence. Participants were drawn from the longitudinal McMaster Teen Study in Canada (analytic sample, N = 543, 55.6% girls). Bullying was measured with five items (general, physical, verbal, social, cyber) following a standard definition. The MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to establish a potential diagnosis of PTSD in young adulthood. Covariates were victimization in dating relationships, and physical or sexual child maltreatment in childhood (retrospectively reported in young adulthood). Using latent class growth analyses, four distinct trajectory classes were identified, low decreasing (75.5%), moderate high (1.8%), moderate low stable (20.3%), and moderate low increasing (2.4%). 22 individuals met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD at age 19-22. The probability of having PTSD was almost six times higher for the moderate high group (OR = 5.67, 95%CI [1.04-30.87]) compared to the low decreasing group. Being maltreated in childhood also predicted a diagnosis of PTSD (OR = 3.47, 95%CI [1.33-9.04]). Our findings underscore the potential risk of bullying victimization for an adult diagnosis of PTSD.
Discussant: Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa
Co-Chairs: Ann Farrell, Brock University & Heather Brittain, University of Ottawa
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Quantitative method study |
|---|---|
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
