Assessing the Impact of Harassment by Peers: Incident Characteristics and Outcomes in a National Sample of Youth

• NCJ Number: 252427
• Journal: Journal of School Violence Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: 2017 Pages: 1-24
• Date Published: 2017
• Author(s): Heather A. Turner; Kimberly J. Mitchell; Lisa Jones; Anne Shattuck
• Length: 24 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-IJ-CX-0024
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

Since few studies have empirically assessed the characteristics of peer bullying that most affect its impact, the study reported in this article addressed this research gap by using a nationally representative U.S. sample of youth ages 10-20 to examine the relative effects of a variety of potentially aggravating incident characteristics on emotional, physical health, and school-related outcomes.

Abstract

Study findings provide support for power imbalance and duration (a stronger predictor than repetition) as incident characteristics that exacerbate the negative impact of peer harassment; however, several other incident characteristics have substantial effects with or without the presence of these qualities. Injury, sexual content, involvement of multiple perpetrators, and hate/bias components of peer harassment incidents each increased at least one negative outcome. Findings point to several features of peer harassment that can provide a basis for prioritizing victimization experiences in greatest need of intervention efforts. (Publisher abstract modified)