Peer Victimization and Adolescent Depression (2008)

Undergraduate: Alexander Queen

Faculty Advisor: Mitchell Prinstein
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Recent research has examined peer victimization as an antecedent to depressogenic attributional style, but few studies have taken into account the heterogeneity in the experience of peer victimization and differences in risk for developing depressive attributions (DA). This prospective, longitudinal study examined chronicity of victimization, victim sub-type (aggressive/passive victims), and form of victimization (overt/relational) to better identify adolescents at risk for later DA. Five hundred and twenty participants in grades 6-8 completed peer nomination items to assess overt and relational victimization and aggression and the Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ) to measure DA at three annual time points. Results suggested that chronic victims over the three year period actually had initially reported lower levels of DA than sporadic victims (all p’s < .05), perhaps because chronic victims also were rated by peers as more aggressive than other victim types. Regression analyses revealed that under conditions of high aggression, victimization was not significantly associated with increases in DA. Under conditions of low aggression, however, higher levels of victimization were associated longitudinally with increases in DA.