Beyond Bullying: Aggravating Elements of Peer Victimization Episodes

• In Event: New National Survey Data on Crime, Violence and Abuse against Children and Youth

Abstract

This study sought to identify features of peer victimization that aggravate negative outcomes in children. The features that were assessed include “power imbalance,” a commonly used criterion in defining bullying, and five other characteristics: injury, weapon involvement, internet involvement, sexual content and bias content. Three outcomes were assessed: level of fear, missing school, and trauma symptoms. The study utilized a representative sample of 3,164 children and youth age 6-17 from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence conducted in 2011 (NatSCEV II). Almost one half of the entire sample of school aged children experienced at least one form of peer victimization in the past year. Injury and power imbalance independently increased the impact on children for all three outcomes. Additionally, weapon involvement and sexual content were associated with trauma symptoms, with sexual content having the strongest effect. This diversity of aggravating features suggests a need to reconsider the current emphasis on prioritizing bullying with its exclusionary power imbalance definition as the central focus for prevention and intervention. We recommend a broader focus on peer victimization along with more research to identify the aggravating features that signal the greatest need for intervention.

Authors

• Heather Turner, University of New Hampshire

• David Finkelhor, University of New Hampshire

• Sherry L. Hamby, Sewanee:The University of the South