Using Event-Contingent Recording of Everyday Social Interactions to Assess Interpersonal Style in Victims of Bullying

• In Event: 1-116 - Circle Up: Using Interpersonal Theory and The Interpersonal Circumplex to Study Interpersonal Relationships Across Development

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Being bullied can have severe consequences for victims and can lead to interpersonal problems and negative mental health outcomes. For example, literature suggests victims have worse social skills, report diminished quality of relationships, and show more reactive aggression compared to non-involved peers. Victims might alter their interpersonal style as a consequence of bullying experiences, e.g., they may become more submissive towards others. This may help explain why victims are at higher risk for mental disorders such as depression. However, no study has examined victims’ interpersonal style during real-life social interactions. Therefore, we applied event-contingent recording (ECR) to assess how Dutch high-school senior victims of bullying behave, feel, and perceive others during real-life social interactions. We expected victims and non-involved controls to differ in interpersonal style.
Methods: Participants were selected using a pre-screen in 1473 high-school seniors who all completed the Olweus Bullying Victimization Questionnaire (BVQ; Autumn 2017). We invited pure victims and gender- and age-matched non-involved controls to participate in the ECR study. Pure victims reported having been victimised ≥2-3 times in the previous 4 weeks but no bullying of others. Non-involved controls neither bullied others nor were victimised.
The ECR study (Winter-Spring 2018) involved participants recording their interpersonal behaviour, positive and negative affect, and perceptions of others. State interpersonal behaviour was assessed using the Social Behaviour Inventory (SBI) and interpersonal perceptions were assessed using an interpersonal grid; both measures are derived from the interpersonal circumplex and assess the interpersonal variables of interest in terms of dominance-submissiveness and agreeableness-quarrelsomeness. Participants also reported trait interpersonal behaviour using an adapted SBI and completed the BVQ a second time.
We included 27 pure victims and 59 non-involved controls (stable across both BVQ assessments) for data analyses (Mage 17 years; 72% female). Hypothesis testing was conducted in SAS 9.4, using PROC MIXED with maximum likelihood estimation. Mixed models examined victimization and trait interpersonal behaviour (person-level variables) as predictors of state interpersonal behaviour, affect, and perceptions (event-level variables).
Results: Victims reported more negative affect during social interactions than non-involved controls, but there were no significant differences between victims and controls regarding state interpersonal behaviour, positive affect, or perceptions of others. As victims reported higher levels of trait submissiveness, post-hoc analyses examined this person-level variable as a predictor of interpersonal style within the victim group. Higher trait submissiveness was associated with higher state submissiveness, lower state dominance, and perceiving others as less dominant. However, during interactions in which they behaved submissively, victims with higher trait submissiveness did not significantly differ from victims with lower trait submissiveness.
Discussion: ECR of social interactions is a well-validated method for assessing everyday interpersonal behaviour, affect, and perceptions of others. This is the first study to use ECR to examine the interpersonal style of victims of bullying. Our data suggest that, while still in high-school, victims show only subtle alterations in their everyday social interactions. During the symposium we will also discuss our 12-month follow-up ECR study, which will assess interpersonal style after transitioning out of high school.

Authors

• Minita Franzen, University of Groningen
  Presenting Author

• Rene Veenstra, University of Groningen
  Non-Presenting Author

• Peter de Jong, University of Groningen
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marije aan het Rot, University of Groningen,
  Non-Presenting Author