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Life Satisfaction and Peer Victimization Among USA Public High School Adolescents

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Abstract

This study explored associations between peer victimization experiences and adolescents’ perceptions of life satisfaction. Public high school students (n = 1,325) completed a self-report questionnaire measuring being bullied and life satisfaction. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between being bullied and perceived life satisfaction across four race and gender groups. Results indicated that significant associations (p ≤ .05) were established for reduced life satisfaction and being bullied over the past 12 months due to religion for whites and black males (OR = 3.18–4.84); victimization due to gender for black males and white females (OR = 3.07–4.52); victimization for race/ethnicity for whites and black females (OR = 2.46–3.88); victimization for sexual orientation for males (OR = 3.42–4.51) and victimization for a disability for all four race/gender groups (OR = 2.92–7.35). Results suggest that perceived life satisfaction is related to a variety of differentially motivated victimization experiences, but not uniformly across race and gender groups. Implications for the delivery of race- and gender- specific prevention interventions are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Promotion, Education & Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, 800 Sumter Street, Room 216, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Jelani C. Kerr & Robert F. Valois

  2. Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    E. Scott Huebner

  3. Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    J. Wanzer Drane

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  1. Jelani C. Kerr
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  2. Robert F. Valois
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Correspondence to Robert F. Valois.

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Kerr, J.C., Valois, R.F., Huebner, E.S. et al. Life Satisfaction and Peer Victimization Among USA Public High School Adolescents. Child Ind Res 4, 127–144 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-010-9078-y

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