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

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

This symposium brings together international and multidisciplinary research examining the longitudinal links between peer victimization and psychopathology. Although the link between being bullied and poor mental health outcomes is well established when examined contemporaneously, a better understanding of temporality, modalities, moderators, and mechanisms across childhood and adolescence is needed. The first paper in our symposium focuses on whether rumination (i.e. excessive, repetitive thinking of past victimization) mediates the association between the intensity of elementary school victimization and symptoms of depression and anxiety over a four-year period. The second paper focuses on the association between different modalities of peer victimization (e.g., face-to-face, cyber) and the transactional links between these different victimization modalities with anxiety and depression over a three-year period. The third paper focuses on the mechanisms between peer victimization, somatic, anxious, and depressive symptoms over a seven-year period, with a specific focus on etiological pathways. The final paper focuses on different modalities of victimization (e.g., parental maltreatment, peer victimization), the interaction between victimization type and substance misuse, and the mediating roles of cognitive impulsivity, depression, and low self-esteem, over a three-year period. Together, the research highlights complex, reciprocal associations between peer victimization and psychopathology, and supports interpersonal risk and symptoms-driven pathways to harm. Accordingly, targeted interventions are needed to prevent further maladjustment and peer difficulties in children and adolescents who are already vulnerable.

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chairs

• Kirsty Samantha Lee, University of Ottawa

• Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa

Individual Presentations

• Rumination Mediates the Association Between Childhood Victimization and Adolescent Maladjustment - Presenting Author: Christina Salmivalli, University of Turku; Non-Presenting Author: Tiina Turunen, University of Turku; Non-Presenting Author: Katlin Peets, St. John's University

• Examining the Relationship Between Different Types of Peer Victimization and Mental Health Outcomes Over Time - Presenting Author: Chad Rose, University of Missouri; Non-Presenting Author: Brendesha Tynes, University of Southern California

• Delineating the Associations Among Peer Victimization, Somatic, Anxious, and Depressive Symptoms Across Childhood and Adolescence - Presenting Author: Kirsty Samantha Lee, University of Ottawa; Non-Presenting Author: Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa

• Dissecting the Relationship Between Peer Victimization, Parental Abuse, and Substance Misuse Among Early Adolescents - Presenting Author: Dorothy L. Espelage, University of Florida; Non-Presenting Author: Glenn Walters, Kutztown University