The Mediating Role of Adolescent Depression between Childhood Bullying Victimization and Trajectories of Substance Use in Adulthood

• In Event: Victimization Across the Life Course

Abstract

An extensive line of longitudinal research suggests that bullying victimization is a risk factor for substance use habit formation later in life. Contemporary evidence shows that bullied youth tend to report higher levels of substance use from early adolescence to young adulthood compared to non-bullied youth. While prior research has found that early life bullying victimization is associated with developmental trajectories of substance use, much less is known about the mechanisms through which bullying victimization operates through to increase the risk for substance use over time. One psychiatric disorder commonly associated with both bullying victimization and substance use behavior is depression. Using longitudinal data, the current study examines the meditational role of adolescent depression between repeated bullying victimization in childhood and growth in alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use in adulthood. Findings reveal evidence of gender specific indirect pathways from childhood bullying victimization to adolescent depression to growth in alcohol and cigarette use during adulthood. Implications of these findings for future life-course/developmental research on bullying victimization and substance use are discussed.

Authors

• Eric J. Connolly, Pennsylvania State University, Abington

• Michael Rocque, Bates College

• Dany Chheang, Pennsylvania State University, Abington