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Poster #218 - Conduct problems mediate the association between youth perceived neighborhood disorder and bullying perpetration

Thu, March 21, 12:30 to 1:45pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Background: Neighborhood disorder has been shown to increase the likelihood of interpersonal violence (Skogan, 1990), but little research has explored if neighborhood disorder is associated with bullying perpetration by adolescents. Other studies have shown, however, that neighborhood disorder increases the likelihood of having conduct problems (Jennings et al., 2018; Schofield et al., 2012), and conduct problems, while reflecting a separate construct from bullying perpetration, are an important risk factor for bullying perpetration (Fanti & Kimonis, 2012; Kljakovic & Hunt, 2016). Conduct problems, then, may serve as a mediator in the association between neighborhood disorder and bullying behavior. This study sought to examine the associations between neighborhood disorder, conduct problems and bullying perpetration by (1) understanding the longitudinal associations between neighborhood disorder (perceived and observed) and three types of bullying (physical, verbal and indirect), and (2) examining if conduct problems mediated the link between neighborhood disorder and bullying perpetration.

Methods: These objectives were addressed using data from a prospective longitudinal study of youth recruited from four regions of Quebec. Adolescents with (n=231, 48.1% girls) and without (n=378, 44.4% girls) significant conduct problems, according to teacher or parent reports, were on average 14.27 (SD=0.97) at time 1 and 15.29 (SD=1.14) at time 2. Neighborhood disorder was evaluated at time 1 with both a survey of adolescent’s perception of neighborhood disorder and by neighborhood evaluations performed by trained research assistants. The three types of bullying perpetration were reported by teachers at time 2.

Results: Possible overlap between conduct problems at time 1 and bullying perpetration at time 2 was a concern. Preliminary analyses suggested moderate correlations (r ≤0.4) between these variables, supporting their conceptualization as separate but related constructs. Structural equation modelling subsequently indicated that perceived neighborhood disorder at time 1 was associated with greater bullying perpetration at time 2, controlling for age, sex, census-derived neighborhood socio-economic status and family income. These associations, however, were completely mediated by conduct problems status while controlling for these same covariates (see Figure 1). In other words, higher level of perceived neighborhood disorder was associated indirectly to higher level of all types of bullying via conduct problems. There was no direct or indirect association between observed neighborhood disorder and any types of bullying perpetration.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that perception of neighborhood disorder, more so than observed disorder, was associated with bullying perpetration and that conduct problems status plays an important mediating role in this association. Youth who perceived high level of disorder in their neighborhood may internalize messages regarding the control and acceptance of antisocial behaviors, which in turn increase their risk for the development of conduct problems. These conduct problems may subsequently increase the likelihood of bullying perpetration. As discussed, the possible overlap between conduct problems and bullying perpetration should be considered in the interpretation of these findings. These results suggest that youth’s perceptions of their neighborhoods may have important consequences with regards to conduct problems and subsequent bullying perpetration, and support the importance of involving youth in improving their neighborhoods.

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