A Social Cognitive and Contextual Analysis of Peer Victimization Across the Middle School Years

本研究的目的是考察中学时期的同伴受害行为。受害定义为在成人监督最少的学校内和周围发生的对目标学生的欺凌、恐吓或恐吓。计划进行一项纵向研究，跟踪调查大约2000名六年级学生进入洛杉矶大都市九所中学中的一所。这些学校将根据种族组成进行选择，但在学生的社会经济阶层、规模和总体成绩水平方面是相似的。数据将在三个中学学年每年收集两次，内容包括学生遭受伤害的经历，此类骚扰的感知原因，以及心理、社会和学校适应指标。统计分析将调查所有这些变量随时间的变化。该项目的具体目标是：(1)考察在青春期早期特别显著的个人和背景受伤害的前因，例如种族、青春期时机和一个人在同龄人群体中的地位；(2)调查受害的后果，包括主观幸福感、同龄人的拒绝，以及学习成绩和态度；(3)测试受害与适应之间的关系模型，将自责归因视为关键变量；以及(4)探索受害青少年亚类型的调整模式，这些青少年可能是最有可能出现心理、社会和学校功能障碍的风险最大的群体。该项目的发现将对同伴受害的动态提供新的见解，并在几个方面推动该领域的发展。首先，对青春期早期和向中学过渡的关注唤起了对这个年龄段的关键发展里程碑的关注，例如青春期的开始，种族认同的日益突出，以及对同伴认可的高度关注，这可能对一个人如何应对受害者具有重要的影响。其次，对将受害的前因和后果视为一组相互关联变量的模型的关注，为组织日益增长的关于同伴骚扰的文献提供了一个有用的概念框架。第三，通过纵向设计考察成长和变化，这项研究可以揭示受害的稳定性，以及在关键的中学时期成功适应的连续和不连续路径。

The purpose of this research is to examine peer victimization during the middle school years. Victimization is defined as the kind of bullying, terrorizing, or intimidation of targeted students that takes place in and around school where adult supervision is minimal. A longitudinal study is proposed that follows approximately 2000 6th graders as they enter one of nine middle schools in metropolitan Los Angeles. The schools will be selected to vary according to ethnic composition, but to be similar in terms of socioeconomic class of students, size, and overall achievement level. Data will be gathered twice yearly over the three middle school years on students' experiences with victimization, the perceived causes of such harassment, and indicators of psychological, social, and school adjustment. Statistical analyses will investigate change in all of these variables over time. The specific aims of the project are to : (1) examine the individual and contextual antecedents of victimization that are particularly salient during early adolescence such as ethnicity, pubertal timing, and one's position in the peer group; (2) investigate the consequences of victimization, including subjective well-being, rejection by peers, and school performance and attitudes; (3) test a model of the relations between victimization and adjustment that views self-blaming attributions as a key variables; and (4) explore the adjustment patterns of subtypes of victimized young adolescents who may be most at risk for psychological, social, and school dysfunction. Findings of the project will provide new insights into the dynamics of peer victimization and advance the field in several ways. First, the focus on early adolescence and the transition to middle school calls attention to the key developmental milestones of this age period, such as the onset of puberty, increasing salience of ethnic identity, and heightened concern about peer approval, that may have important implications for how one copes with victimization. Second, the concern with models that view antecedents and consequences of victimization as sets of interrelated variables provides a useful conceptual framework for organizing the growing literature on peer harassment. And thirdly, by examining growth and change in a longitudinal design, the study can shed light on the stability of victimization as well as both continuous and discontinous pathways to successful adaptation during the critical middle school years.