Poster #222 - Does Lunchtime Peer Acceptance Moderate the Relation between Peer Victimization and Children’s Internalizing Symptoms?

• In Event: 1-169 - Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Section - Social Relationships

Integrative Statement

Introduction

Recent studies have shown that peer victimization is more likely to occur in school settings that have less supervision and less structure (e.g. recess, lunchtime, etc.) than the classroom (Craig et al., 2016). Craig and colleagues (2016) suggested the lunchroom offers opportunities for both enhanced peer relationships as well as diminished acceptance and potential victimization by peers. Indeed, these researchers found that a peer-report measure of lunchtime peer acceptance predicted children’s level of peer victimization over and above more traditional sociometric scores. We extend the work of Craig et al. (2016) by examining the extent to which lunchtime peer acceptance moderates the commonly found relation between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms. We hypothesized that for students who are accepted by nearby lunch mates this relation would be attenuated; however, for children who are viewed more negatively by lunch mates, this relation would be more pronounced.

Methods

Participants were 674 fourth-grade students (51.3% girls, 48.7% boys). Lunchtime peer acceptance was assessed via the Lunch Table Rating Scale (LTRS), a measure that asks children to identify and rate the degree to which they like to sit by or talk to nearby lunch mates (Craig et al., 2016). Internalizing symptoms were assessed using the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS; Chorpita et al., 2000). Peer victimization was measured using the School Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ; Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2004).

Results

Internalizing symptoms were regressed onto self-report peer victimization and LTRS scores with gender included as a covariate, followed by the interaction of peer victimization and LTRS scores. Gender was a significant predictor, F(1, 512) = 4.55, p = .033, with girls reporting more internalizing symptoms than boys. The second step (peer victimization and LTRS) was significant and accounted for 19.5% additional variance, F(2, 510) = 62.26, p < .001. Both peer victimization (β = .44, p = .001) and LTRS (β = -.09, p = .025) were significant predictors of internalizing symptoms. The final step (peer victimization X LTRS) was not significant and accounted for less than 1% additional variance, F(1, 509) = .47, p = .494.

Discussion

Our results indicate that lunchtime peer acceptance was a significant predictor of children’s internalizing symptoms, even when controlling for gender and level of peer victimization. LTRS did not moderate the relation between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms but operated in an additive fashion to predict children’s internalizing symptoms. The findings further support the premise that school lunchrooms are high-risk/high-reward contexts for children’s social development (Craig et al., 2016). Understanding these connections could guide the development of intervention strategies that specifically target the peer interactions of children in less structured, less supervised school settings (Elledge et al., 2010).

Authors

• Jake Steggerda, University of Arkansas
  Presenting Author

• Ayla Mapes, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Freddie A Pastrana, Medical University of South Carolina
  Non-Presenting Author

• Juventino Hernandez-Rodriguez, Medical University of South Carolina
  Non-Presenting Author

• Samantha J Gregus, Wichita State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• James T Craig, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
  Non-Presenting Author

• TIM CAVELL, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author