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.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Bettencourt, A. F., Farrell, A. D., Liu, W., & Sullivan, T. N. (in press). Stability and change in patterns of peer victimization and aggression during adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
Bosworth, K., & Espelage, D. (1995). Teen conflict survey. Bloomington, IN: Center for Adolescent Studies.
Bray, B., Lanza, S., & Tan, X. (2011). Classify-Analyze approaches in latent class analysis: The importance of inclusive modeling. In Innovations in latent class analysis: New approaches to address classic questions. Symposium conducted at Society for Prevention Research Meeting, Washington, DC.
Brown, B. B., Bakken, J. P., Ameringer, S. W., & Mahon, S. D. (2008). A comprehensive conceptualization of the peer influence process in adolescence. In M. J. Prinstein & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), Understanding peer influence in children and adolescents (pp. 17–44). New York: Guilford Press.
Camodeca, M., Goossens, F. A., Schuengel, C., & Terwogt, M. M. (2003). Links between social informative processing in middle childhood and involvement in bullying. Aggressive Behavior, 29(2), 116–127. doi:10.1002/ab.10043.
Crick, N. R. (1996). The role of overt aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in the prediction of children’s future social adjustment. Child Development, 67, 2317–2327.
Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74–101.
Crick, N. R., Grotpeter, J. K., & Bigbee, M. A. (2002). Relationally and physically aggressive children’s intent attributions and feelings of distress for relational and instrumental peer provocations. Child Development, 73, 1134–1142. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00462.
Farrell, A. D., & Bettencourt, A. F. (2011). Perceptions of Responses to Problem Situations Scale (PREPS). Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
Farrell, A. D., & Vulin-Reynolds, M. (2007). Violent behavior and the science of prevention. In D. J. Flannery, A. T. Vazsonyi, & I. D. Waldman (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of violent behavior and aggression (pp. 767–786). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Farrell, A. D., Kung, E. M., White, K. S., & Valois, R. F. (2000). The structure of self-reported aggression, drug use, and delinquent behaviors during early adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29, 282–292. doi:10.1207/S15374424jccp2902_13.
Farrell, A. D., Sullivan, T. N., Kliewer, W., Allison, K. W., Erwin, E. H., Meyer, A. L., et al. (2006). Peer and school problems in the lives of urban adolescents: Frequency, difficulty, and relation to adjustment. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 169–190. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2006.02.001.
Farrell, A. D., Erwin, E. H., Bettencourt, A., Mays, S., Vulin-Reynolds, M., Sullivan, T., et al. (2008a). Individual factors influencing effective nonviolent behavior and fighting in peer situations: A qualitative study with urban African American adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37, 397–411. doi:10.1080/15374410801955821.
Farrell, A. D., Kliewer, W., Sullivan, T. N., Camou, S., Erwin, E. H., & Allison, K. (2008b). Urban adolescents’ responses to problem situations: What they would do, think they should do, and think others would do. Manuscript in preparation, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Farrell, A. D., Mays, S., Bettencourt, A., Erwin, E. H., Vulin-Reynolds, M., & Allison, K. W. (2010). Environmental influences on fighting versus nonviolent behavior in peer situations: A qualitative study with urban African American adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 46, 19–35. doi:10.1007/s10464-010-9331-z.
Farrell, A. D., Henry, D. B., & Bettencourt, A. (2011a) Methodological challenges examining subgroup differences: Examples from universal school-based youth violence prevention trials. Prevention Science. doi:10.1007/s11121-011-0200-2.
Farrell, A. D., Henry, D. B., Mays, S. A., & Schoeny, M. E. (2011b). Parents as moderators of the impact of school norms and peer influences on aggression in middle school students. Child Development, 82, 146–161. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01546.x.
Farrell, A. D., Bettencourt, A., Mays, S., Kramer, A., Sullivan, T., & Kliewer, W. (2012). Patterns of adolescents’ beliefs about fighting and their relation to behavior and risk factors for aggression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 787–802. doi:10.1007/s10802-011-9609-0.
Giang, M. T., & Graham, S. (2008). Using latent class analysis to identify aggressors and victims of peer harassment. Aggressive Behavior, 34, 203–213. doi:10.1002/ab.20233.
Gottheil, N. F., & Dubow, E. F. (2001). Tripartite beliefs models of bully and victim behavior. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 2, 25–47. doi:10.1300/J135v02n02_03.
Graham, S. (2006). Peer victimization in school: Exploring the ethnic context. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(6), 317–321. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00460.x.
Graham, S., Bellmore, A. D., & Mize, J. (2006). Peer victimization, aggression, and their co-occurrence in middle school: Pathways to adjustment problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(3), 363–378. doi:10.1007/s10802-006-9030-2.
Halgunseth, L. C., Ispa, J. M., & Rudy, D. (2006). Parental control in Latino families: An integrated review of the literature. Child Development, 77(5), 1282–1297. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00934.x.
Hanish, L. D., & Guerra, N. G. (2002). A longitudinal analysis of patterns of adjustment following peer victimization. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 69–89. doi:10.1017/S0954579402001049.
Hawker, D. S. J., & Boulton, M. J. (2000). Twenty years’ research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 441–455. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00629.
Hawley, P. H. (2003). Prosocial and coercive configurations of resource control in early adolescence: A case for the well-adapted Machiavellian. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 49(3), 279–309. doi:10.1353/mpq.2003.0013.
Haynie, D. L., Nansel, T., Eitel, P., Crump, A. D., Saylor, K., Yu, K., et al. (2001). Bullies, victims, and bully/victims: Distinct groups of at-risk youth. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 21, 29–49. doi:10.1177/0272431601021001002.
Henry, D., Guerra, N., Huesmann, R., Tolan, P., VanAcker, R., & Eron, L. (2000). Normative influences on aggression in urban elementary school classrooms. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(1), 59–81. doi:10.1023/A:1005142429725.
Hodges, E. V. E., & Perry, D. G. (1999). Personal and interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 677–685. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.4.677.
Huesmann, L. R. (1998). The role of social information processing and cognitive schema in the acquisition and maintenance of habitual aggressive behavior. In R. G. Geen & E. Donnerstein (Eds.), Human aggression: Theories, research, and implications for social policy (pp. 73–109). San Diego: Academic Press.
Huesmann, L. R., & Guerra, N. G. (1997). Children’s normative beliefs about aggression and aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 408–419.
Johnson, S. R. L., Finigan, N. M., Bradshaw, C. P., Haynie, D. L., & Cheng, T. L. (2011). Examining the link between neighborhood context and parental messages to their adolescent children about violence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 49, 58–63. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.10.014.
Juvonen, J., Nishina, A., & Graham, S. (2001). Self views versus peer perceptions of victim status among early adolescents. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 105–124). New York: Guilford Press.
Kärnä, A., Voeten, M., Little, T. D., Poskiparta, E., Alanen, E., & Salmivalli, C. (2011). Going to scale: A nonrandomized nationwide trial of the KiVa antibullying program for grades 1–9. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 796–805. doi:10.1037/a0025740.
Kliewer, W., Parrish, K. A., Taylor, K. W., Jackson, K., Walker, J. M., & Shivy, V. A. (2006). Socialization of coping with community violence: Influences of caregiver coaching, modeling, and family context. Child Development, 77, 605–623. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00893.x.
Lanza, S. T., & Collins, L. M. (2008). A new SAS procedure for latent transition analysis: Transitions in dating and sexual risk behavior. Developmental Psychology, 44, 446–456. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.2.446.
Lipsey, M. W., & Derzon, J. H. (1998). Predictors of violent or serious delinquency in adolescence and early adulthood: A synthesis of longitudinal research. In R. Loeber & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Serious & violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 86–105). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
Lovegrove, P. J., Henry, K. L., & Slater, M. D. (2012). Examination of the predictors of latent class typologies of bullying involvement among middle school students. Journal of School Violence, 11, 75–93. doi:10(1080/15388220),2011,631447.
McCutcheon, A. (1987). Latent class analysis. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Miller-Johnson, S., Moore, B. L., Underwood, M. K., & Coie, J. D. (2005). African-American girls and physical aggression: Does stability of childhood aggression predict later negative outcomes? In D. J. Pepler, K. C. Madsen, C. Webster, & K. S. Levene (Eds.), The development and treatment of girlhood aggression (pp. 75–95). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Multisite Violence Prevention Project. (2004). The multisite violence prevention project: Background and overview. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26(Suppl 1), 3–11. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2003.09.017.
Multisite Violence Prevention Project. (2008). Impact of a universal school-based violence prevention program on social-cognitive outcomes. Prevention Science, 9(4), 231–244. doi:10.1007/s11121-008-0101-1.
Muthén, L. K. & Muthén, B. O. (2008–2010). Mplus: Statistical analysis with latent variables. User’s Guide v 6.0. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
Nansel, T. R., Haynie, D. L., & Simons-Morton, B. G. (2003). The association of bullying and victimization with middle school adjustment. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 19, 45–61. doi:10.1300/J008v19n02_04.
Nelson, D. A., & Crick, N. R. (1999). Rose-colored glasses: Examining the social information-processing of prosocial young adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 19, 17–38. doi:10.1177/0272431699019001002.
Ng-Mak, D. S., Salzinger, S., Feldman, R. S., & Stueve, C. A. (2004). Pathologic adaptation to community violence among inner-city youth. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 74(2), 196–208. doi:10.1037/0002-9432.74.2.196.
Nylund, K. L. (2007). Latent transition analysis: Modeling extensions and an application to peer victimization. Doctoral Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
Nylund, K. L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 535–569. doi:10.1080/10705510701575396.
Olweus, D., & Limber, S. P. (2010). Bullying in school: Evaluation and dissemination of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 124–134. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01015.x.
Orpinas, P., Murray, N., & Kelder, S. (1999). Parental influences on students’ aggressive behaviors and weapon carrying. Health Education & Behavior, 26, 774–787. doi:10.1177/109019819902600603.
Pellegrini, A. D. (2002). Bullying, victimization, and sexual harassment during the transition to middle school. Educational Psychologist, 37, 151–163. doi:10.1207/S15326985EP37032.
Pelligrini, A. D. (2001). Sampling instances of victimization in middle school: A methodological comparison. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 147–174). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Perry, D. G., Kusel, S. J., & Perry, L. C. (1988). Victims of peer aggression. Developmental Psychology, 24, 807–814.
Rappaport, N., & Thomas, C. (2004). Recent research findings on aggressive and violent behavior in youth: Implications for clinical assessment and intervention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 35(4), 260–277. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.10.009.
Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147–177. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.7.2.147.
Schwartz, D. (2000). Subtypes of victims and aggressors in children’s peer groups. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 181–192. doi:10.1023/A:1005174831561.
Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1997). The early socialization of aggressive victims of bullying. Child Development, 68(4), 665–675. doi:10.2307/1132117.
Schwartz, D., Proctor, L. J., & Chien, D. H. (2001). The aggressive victim of bullying: Emotional and behavioral dysregulation as a pathway to victimization by peers. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 147–174). New York: Guilford Press.
Seidman, E., & French, S. E. (2004). Developmental trajectories and ecological transitions: A two-step procedure to aid in the choice of prevention and promotion interventions. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 1141–1159. doi:10.1017/S0954579404040179.
Sullivan, T. N., Farrell, A. D., & Kliewer, W. (2006). Peer victimization in early adolescence: Association between physical and relational victimization and drug use, aggression, and delinquent behaviors among urban middle school students. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 119–137. doi:10.1017/S095457940606007X.
Toblin, R. L., Schwartz, D., Gorman, A. H., & Abou-ezzeddine, T. (2005). Social-cognitive and behavioral attributes of aggressive victims of bullying. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 329–346. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2005.02.004.
Tolan, P. H., Gorman-Smith, D., & Henry, D. B. (2003). The developmental ecology of urban males’ youth violence. Developmental Psychology, 39(2), 274–291. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.39.2.274.
Vitaro, F., & Pelletier, D. (1991). Assessment of children’s social problem-solving skills in hypothetical and actual conflict situations. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 19, 505–518.
Wang, J., Iannotti, R. J., & Nansel, T. R. (2009). School bullying among adolescents in the United States: Physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45, 368–375. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.03.021.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by cooperative agreement 1U01CE001956 (VCU) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The research and interpretations reported are the sole responsibility of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by CDC, or represent the views, opinions, or policies of these agencies or their staff. The following reflects a description of each of the author’s contributions to this manuscript. Albert Farrell is the principal investigator of the project in which the data for the present manuscript were collected. He designed the larger project and managed the data collection efforts. Amie Bettencourt conceived of the ideas for the present study with input from Albert Farrell. Amie also performed a large portion of the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript with input from Albert Farrell.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bettencourt, A.F., Farrell, A.D. Individual and Contextual Factors Associated with Patterns of Aggression and Peer Victimization During Middle School. J Youth Adolescence 42, 285–302 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9854-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9854-8