NCJ Number
227988
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 38 Issue: 8 Dated: September 2009 Pages: 1096-1109
Date Published
September 2009
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship of peer victimization on social anxiety in adolescents using three types of victimization - overt, relational, and reputational.
Abstract
Findings highlight the deleterious effects of peer victimization, especially relational victimization, and suggest avenues for clinical intervention for adolescents experiencing such victimization. This study confirmed the concurrent association between social anxiety and peer victimization and revealed that social anxiety both predicts and is predicted by peer victimization over time. Relational victimization has a stronger association with social anxiety than reputational victimization, and may more adversely affect girls than boys. Social anxiety predicted increases in relational victimization over time for both boys and girls, thus supporting a bi-directional relationship between peer victimization and social anxiety. Data were collected from 228 adolescents in grades 10-12 from a large public high school in southern Florida. Participants completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents and the Revised Peer Experiences Questionnaire, at time 1 and 2 months later, at time 2. The self-reporting measures were completed in school during group testing sessions. Tables and references