Delineating the Associations Among Peer Victimization, Somatic, Anxious, and Depressive Symptoms Across Childhood and Adolescence

• In Event: 2-202 - Modalities, Moderators, and Mechanisms of the Long-Term Links Between Peer Victimization and Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Decades of research show that peer victimization is linked to psychopathology, especially somatization (e.g., frequent headaches, stomach aches), anxiety, and depression, which are some of the most common mental health disorders in childhood and adolescence. However, most studies employ short-term follow-up periods or unidirectional analyses, meaning the temporal patterning of associations and mechanistic processes are yet to be established. In this study we examined the concurrent and longitudinal links between peer victimization, somatic, anxious, and depressive symptoms across seven-years of childhood and adolescence using a cascade model. Cascade models are highly robust, controlling for within-time associations and across-time stability, and are particularly useful for examining temporal precedence, transactional associations (i.e., whether effects occur in both directions), and mechanistic processes. A sample of 672 Canadian school students was assessed every year across a seven-year period. From age 11, students self-reported on their experiences of peer victimization, as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression, and from age 13 students reported on somatic symptoms. The model had good fit to the data (χ2=250.600, df=172, P<.001, CFI=0.986, RMSEA=0.026 [90% CI=0.019-0.033], SRMR=0.038) and revealed within-time correlations between peer victimization, somatic, anxious, and depressive symptoms at every time point. Longitudinal cross-lag effects revealed that anxiety repeatedly predicted depression and somatization, depression repeatedly predicted somatization, and all symptoms of psychopathology (anxiety, depression, and somatization) predicted peer victimization at some point during the seven-year period. All effects held after controlling for potential confounds (i.e., gender, ethnicity, parental education, and household income). The results supported a symptoms-driven pathway, whereby children and adolescents with pre-existing psychopathology were at increased risk of being bullied by their peers. The findings have implications for school nurses and counsellors, who may be able to identify and support children and adolescents at risk of peer victimization as those who report with somatic, anxious, or depressive symptoms, and highlight the need for targeted interventions to prevent further maladjustment and harm in children and adolescents already experiencing poor mental health. The results further highlight the etiologic role of childhood anxiety and its cascading effect on multiple forms of psychopathology and social relationships, suggesting that targeting symptoms of anxiety in childhood may inhibit the development of further mental health and social problems in adolescence and beyond.

Authors

• Kirsty Samantha Lee, University of Ottawa
  Presenting Author

• Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author