NCJ Number
185610
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2000 Pages: 299-310
Date Published
November 2000
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examines dating experiences of bullies in early adolescence.
Abstract
The study involved 196 young adolescents who had bullied their peers. They were identified out of a sample of 1,758 students in Grades 5 through 8. A group of nonbullying youth matched on gender, school, and grade were compared on dating experiences, quality of friend and boyfriend or girlfriend relationships and acts of physical and social aggression. Bullies started dating earlier and engaged in more advanced dyadic dating. They were highly relationship-oriented, yet their views of friends and boyfriends or girlfriends were less positive and less equitable. Bullies were more likely to report physical and social aggression with their boyfriends or girlfriends. Although bullies reported more advanced pubertal development, this factor did not fully account for their dating precocity and negative romantic relationships. Study results confirmed the hypothesis that adolescents whose peer relationships are characterized by bullying are at risk in their development of healthy romantic relationships. Tables, notes, references