Relational victimization and aggression as predictors of academic engagement and motivation

• In Event: 2-145 - Consequences of bullying and peer victimization

Integrative Statement

Peer aggression and victimization in schools is a serious public health concern that has many detrimental effects on the psychosocial development and academic achievement of youth (e.g., Kochenderfer & Ladd, 1996; Totura et al. 2009; Campbell et al. 2006). There are two main forms of aggression and victimization-- overt (i.e., direct physical or verbal, such as hitting, pushing, verbal threats, teasing, name-calling) and relational (e.g., gossiping, excluding others; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). Only a small number of studies have examined disaggregated forms of aggression and/or victimization and their association with academic engagement and motivation, which have been shown to be important contributors to academic success (Risser 2012; Morrow et al. 2014; Valiente et al. 2014; DiPerna et al. 2015). Moreover, studies that have examined these constructs in low-socioeconomic samples are scarce. These studies have demonstrated negative associations between general peer victimization, aggression, and academic achievement (Espelage et al. 2013; Schwartz et al. 2005; Nakomoto & Schwartz, 2011), however, there has not been an examination of this association by form of aggression and/or victimization.
The present study investigated how relational and overt forms of aggression and victimization are related to academic engagement and motivation in a sample of 3rd to 5th grade students attending under-resourced urban elementary schools. We hypothesized that higher rates of relational and overt aggression and victimization will be negatively associated with lower academic engagement and motivation.
Data were collected from 205 3rd-5th grade students from two Philadelphia public schools that participated in PRAISE, a universal bullying prevention program designed for urban youth (Leff et al., 2010). Participants were 50% female, with 46.3% of youth being in 3rd grade, 33.2% in 4th grade, and 20.5% in 5th grade. Informants included teacher report of academic motivation and engagement and four composite scores, created from student self-report and parent reports, of relational and overt aggression and victimization. Data were completed at pre-intervention (in the fall) and post-intervention (in the spring).
Regression models included fall predictor variables: pre-levels of academic engagement and motivation, intervention status (not depicted in tables), gender, aggression status (relational and overt), ethnicity, and both forms of victimization (relational or overt). Results indicate that relational victimization in the beginning of the year is significantly associated with academic engagement, but not motivation, at the end of the year. Overt victimization did not significantly predict either engagement or motivation. Only relational aggression in the beginning of the year significantly predicted motivation at the end of the year. Contrarily, there was no significance between overt aggression and engagement or motivation. See Table 1 and 2 for all estimates.
Findings contributed to an understanding of relational victimization and aggression, and its effects on academic success. Relational victimization in the beginning of the school year can negatively impact academic engagement, whereas relational aggression can negatively affect motivation. Implications for interventions focusing on relational victimization will be presented.

Authors

• Camila Polanco, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  Presenting Author

• Tracy Waasdorp, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brooke Paskewich, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stephen Leff, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  Non-Presenting Author