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Violent Victimization in the Community and Children’s Subsequent Peer Rejection: The Mediating Role of Emotion Dysregulation

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Abstract

This paper describes a short-term longitudinal study of the relation between violent victimization in the community and peer rejection among 199 children (mean age = 9.02 years) attending two urban Los Angeles area elementary schools. We used a multi-informant approach to assess victimization by community violence, peer group victimization, peer rejection, and impairments in emotion regulation. These data were collected annually for two consecutive school years. Violent victimization in the community predicted later peer rejection after accounting for the effects of initial levels of peer rejection. Analyses indicated that this relation was mediated by deficient emotion regulation skills. In addition, we found evidence that victimization by community violence and peer rejection are reciprocally related over time. The developmental implications of these findings are discussed.

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Notes

  1. In using the term “change”, we are referring to the change in a variable over time that is uncorrelated with initial T1 levels of the variable.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by an Early Faculty Award from the University of Southern California’s Zumberge Fund and a faculty fellowship from the John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation. Brynn Kelly was supported by The Annenberg Foundation during the preparation of this manuscript. We thank Gayla Margolin, JoAnn Farver, and Franklin Manis for their helpful input. We also gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the participating children, teachers, and school administrative personnel.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, 3620 McClintock Avenue, SGM 501, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-1061, USA

    Brynn M. Kelly, David Schwartz & Jonathan Nakamoto

  2. Department of Psychology, Occidental College, 1600 Campus Rd., Los Angeles, CA, 90041-3314, USA

    Andrea Hopmeyer Gorman

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  1. Brynn M. Kelly
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Correspondence to Brynn M. Kelly.

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Kelly, B.M., Schwartz, D., Gorman, A.H. et al. Violent Victimization in the Community and Children’s Subsequent Peer Rejection: The Mediating Role of Emotion Dysregulation. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 175–185 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9168-6

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