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This dissertation study examines the coping methods and attributional styles of peer victimized children versus those who are not involved with acts of bullying. Data corresponding to elementary school children (n=317) over a period of four years from four public elementary schools in the Southwest United States was used in

This dissertation study examines the coping methods and attributional styles of peer victimized children versus those who are not involved with acts of bullying. Data corresponding to elementary school children (n=317) over a period of four years from four public elementary schools in the Southwest United States was used in the present study. Latent class analyses and correlations were conducted to explore (1) whether externalizing versus internalizing or passive emotional reactions differentially influence the attributions children make regarding victimization, (2) whether externalizing types of emotional reactions differentially influence the coping methods victimized children utilize, and (3) whether children identified as "bullies" experience different types of emotional reactions than those identified as "victims." Findings revealed that children who identified as self-reported victims tended to report higher levels of internalizing feelings. However, contradictory to what was hypothesized, the victim group also reported higher levels of being mad. Specific patterns arose between the types of attributions that victimized and non-victimized children made, where the children who identified more frequently as being victims tended to report that they believed bullying took place due to reasons that were more personal in nature and more stable. Lastly, findings also revealed similarities in the ways victimized children coped with bullying.
ContributorsRandall, Megan (Author) / Caterino, Linda C (Thesis advisor) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / McCoy, Kathleen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
It is widely recognized that peer-directed aggression and victimization are pervasive social problems that impact school-aged children and adolescents. This study investigated the developmental course of aggression and victimization, and more specifically, addressed three primary aims. First, distinct subgroups of children were identified based on similarities and differences in their

It is widely recognized that peer-directed aggression and victimization are pervasive social problems that impact school-aged children and adolescents. This study investigated the developmental course of aggression and victimization, and more specifically, addressed three primary aims. First, distinct subgroups of children were identified based on similarities and differences in their physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization. Second, developmental stability (and instability) were assessed by examining the extent to which individuals remain (or change) subgroups throughout childhood and adolescence. Third, group classifications and transitions over time were assessed as a function of children’s individual characteristics and their relational and contextual experiences.

The sample for this longitudinal study consisted of 482 children (50% females) who were followed over time from grades 1 to 11. Multiple-informant data on children’s physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization (peer-reports), individual characteristics including emotion dysregulation, withdrawn behaviors (teacher-reports), and hostile and self-blaming attributions (self-reports), and their relational and contextual experiences including peer rejection, friendships, social hierarchy and classroom aggression (peer-reports) were assessed in grades 1, 5, 8, and 11. Data analyses primarily consisted of a series of person-centered methods including latent profile and latent transition analyses.

Most of the identified subgroups (e.g., aggressors, victims and aggressive-victims) were distinguishable by their frequencies (i.e., levels) of aggression and victimization, rather than forms (physical, verbal and relational), with the exception of one group that appeared to be more form-specific (i.e., relational aggressive-victims). Among children in each group there was a modest degree of intra-individual stability, and findings elucidated how some groups appeared to be more stable than others as well as developmental differences. Although group stability was fairly common across all groups, and over time, patterns of instability also emerged.

The combination of trends reflecting both stability and instability support the perspective that the development of aggression in childhood and adolescence is characterized by heterogeneity. In contrast to perspectives that highlight the individual stability of aggression (e.g., that it is a stable behavioral style or individual disposition), findings elucidate the individual, relational and contextual mechanisms by which developmental stability and instability were more pronounced.
ContributorsEttekal, Idean (Author) / Ladd, Gary W (Thesis advisor) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Kochel, Karen P (Committee member) / Kochenderfer-Ladd, Becky (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016