Tags

Type your tag names separated by a space and hit enter

Individual and contextual factors associated with patterns of aggression and peer victimization during middle school.
J Youth Adolesc. 2013 Feb; 42(2):285-302.JY

Abstract

Peer victimization is a common problem among adolescents that has been linked to a variety of adjustment problems. Youth involved in peer victimization represent a heterogeneous group who may differ not only in their levels of victimization and perpetration, but also in the factors that influence their behavior. The current study used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify subgroups of aggressive and victimized youth, and to examine social-cognitive and environmental factors that differ across these subgroups. Participants were a predominantly African-American (i.e., 68 %) sample of 502 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders (45 % male, Mean age = 12.6 years) attending three urban public middle schools, who completed self-report measures of aggression, victimization, and associated individual and contextual factors. LCA identified four classes of adolescents representing non-victimized aggressors, aggressive-victims, predominantly victimized youth, and well-adjusted youth. Class differences were found on measures of beliefs supporting fighting, beliefs against fighting, perceived effectiveness of inept nonviolent responses to conflict, behavioral intentions to engage in aggressive and nonviolent behavior, self-efficacy for nonviolent behavior, and peer and parental support for aggression and nonviolence. For example, within the two classes of victimized youth, aggressive-victims reported greater intentions to engage in physical aggression and inept nonviolent behavior, and were more likely to agree with beliefs supporting the use of instrumental and reactive aggression, and beliefs that fighting is sometimes necessary compared to predominantly victimized youth. These findings emphasize the importance of developing preventive interventions that target the specific needs of distinct subgroups of adolescents.

Links

Publisher Full Text (DOI)

Authors+Show Affiliations

Bettencourt AF
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. abettenc@jhsph.edu
Farrell AD
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdolescentAdolescent BehaviorAggressionBullyingCrime VictimsFemaleHumansInterpersonal RelationsJuvenile DelinquencyMalePeer GroupSchoolsSelf ConceptSocial AdjustmentSocial EnvironmentStudentsSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited States

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Language

eng

PubMed ID

23160659

Citation

Bettencourt, Amie F., and Albert D. Farrell. "Individual and Contextual Factors Associated With Patterns of Aggression and Peer Victimization During Middle School." Journal of Youth and Adolescence, vol. 42, no. 2, 2013, pp. 285-302.
Bettencourt AF, Farrell AD. Individual and contextual factors associated with patterns of aggression and peer victimization during middle school. J Youth Adolesc. 2013;42(2):285-302.
Bettencourt, A. F., & Farrell, A. D. (2013). Individual and contextual factors associated with patterns of aggression and peer victimization during middle school. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(2), 285-302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9854-8
Bettencourt AF, Farrell AD. Individual and Contextual Factors Associated With Patterns of Aggression and Peer Victimization During Middle School. J Youth Adolesc. 2013;42(2):285-302. PubMed PMID: 23160659.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Individual and contextual factors associated with patterns of aggression and peer victimization during middle school. AU - Bettencourt,Amie F, AU - Farrell,Albert D, Y1 - 2012/11/17/ PY - 2012/08/12/received PY - 2012/10/31/accepted PY - 2012/11/20/entrez PY - 2012/11/20/pubmed PY - 2013/6/19/medline SP - 285 EP - 302 JF - Journal of youth and adolescence JO - J Youth Adolesc VL - 42 IS - 2 N2 - Peer victimization is a common problem among adolescents that has been linked to a variety of adjustment problems. Youth involved in peer victimization represent a heterogeneous group who may differ not only in their levels of victimization and perpetration, but also in the factors that influence their behavior. The current study used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify subgroups of aggressive and victimized youth, and to examine social-cognitive and environmental factors that differ across these subgroups. Participants were a predominantly African-American (i.e., 68 %) sample of 502 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders (45 % male, Mean age = 12.6 years) attending three urban public middle schools, who completed self-report measures of aggression, victimization, and associated individual and contextual factors. LCA identified four classes of adolescents representing non-victimized aggressors, aggressive-victims, predominantly victimized youth, and well-adjusted youth. Class differences were found on measures of beliefs supporting fighting, beliefs against fighting, perceived effectiveness of inept nonviolent responses to conflict, behavioral intentions to engage in aggressive and nonviolent behavior, self-efficacy for nonviolent behavior, and peer and parental support for aggression and nonviolence. For example, within the two classes of victimized youth, aggressive-victims reported greater intentions to engage in physical aggression and inept nonviolent behavior, and were more likely to agree with beliefs supporting the use of instrumental and reactive aggression, and beliefs that fighting is sometimes necessary compared to predominantly victimized youth. These findings emphasize the importance of developing preventive interventions that target the specific needs of distinct subgroups of adolescents. SN - 1573-6601 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/23160659/Individual_and_contextual_factors_associated_with_patterns_of_aggression_and_peer_victimization_during_middle_school_ L2 - https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9854-8 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -