the Interplay Between Bullying Victimization and Rejection Sensitivity Over Time

• In Event: Bullying Victimization: New Directions

Abstract

Bullying victimization is a public concern. A third of adolescents reports to be victimized, of whom around ten percent are persistently victimized. Being victimized, and particularly being persistently victimized, has detrimental consequences for wellbeing. Moreover, additional consequences might occur. According to the prevention theory, victims can become hypersensitive to (negative) social cues. Cross-sectional studies found that children with more victimization experiences tend to be more sensitive to rejection. However, the direction of this association remains unknown. It might be that victimization leads to a heightened rejection sensitivity, or vice versa. It might also be that a vicious cycle develops where victimization and heightened rejection sensitivity influence each other.
In this study we investigated how bullying victimization and rejection sensitivity are related over time. We hypothesized that victimization experiences lead to higher levels of rejection sensitivity, which might put individuals at risk for further victimization. To examine the research question, we used two datasets. The first dataset included 215 Dutch adolescents in the first year of secondary education (M age = 12.7) who filled out questionnaires about victimization and rejection sensitivity in each semester for two years (four waves total). The second dataset included 713 Australian adolescents in the last grades of elementary school (M age = 10.8) who filled in the questionnaires about victimization and rejection sensitivity each semester for 1.5 years (three waves total). The data was analyzed with random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (ri-CLPM), to take apart the within-person (the relation between the adolescent’s own level of victimization and their own level of rejection sensitivity over time) and between-person effects (the relation between the constructs victimization and rejection sensitivity).
Results were similar across the two datasets. Most variance could be explained by the between-person effect of victimization and rejection sensitivity, meaning that adolescents who, compared to other adolescents, experienced higher levels of victimization, also had higher levels of rejection sensitivity. Furthermore, some within-person effects were also present, though smaller in effect size. There were self-reinforcing effects for both victimization and rejection sensitivity, meaning that if an adolescent had increased levels of either victimization or rejection sensitivity, he/she would likely experience further increases of victimization or rejection sensitivity, respectively. Victimization and rejection sensitivity were also concurrently associated at the within-person level, however, not in a cross-lagged manner. Victimization did not lead to future increases rejection sensitivity, nor vice versa.
These findings clearly demonstrate that victimization and rejection sensitivity are related, yet co-existence does not necessarily lead to a vicious cycle of victimization. This does not mean that rejection sensitivity can be discarded entirely. Being more rejection sensitive, might help victims to shield themselves, yet at the same time this might make it harder for them to find and befriend possible defenders.

Authors

• Sanne Kellij, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (UG/RUG)
  Presenting Author

• Gerine Lodder, Tilburg University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Matteo Giletta, Ghent University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck, Griffith University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Berna Güroglu, Leiden University
  Non-Presenting Author

• René Veenstra, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (UG/RUG)
  Non-Presenting Author