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Responses to Peer Victimization and Bullying in Early Childhood

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Abstract

Little research has used in vivo, naturalistic observations to understand developmental processes related to bullying in early childhood. To test associations between how young children respond to experiences of peer victimization and changes in relational and physical bullying behaviors, a short-term longitudinal study using behavioral observations and teacher reports was conducted among 164 (84 females) preschool children (M = 47.76 months, SD = 7.41). Findings indicated that observed aggressive responses to school-based peer victimization was significantly associated with increases in teacher-reported relational bullying across the academic year. In addition, observed teacher reactions to peer victimization were significantly associated with increases in relational bullying across the academic year. The ways in which these findings extend the literature are discussed.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the UB Social Development Lab and specifically the staff of the UB Early Childhood Friendship Project and the UB Books and Social Development Project for their assistance with the collection and coding of data. We are grateful to the families, teachers, and administrators of participating centers.

Funding

The study was funded in part by the Mark Diamond Fund at the University at Buffalo to the first author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Kimberly E. Kamper-DeMarco

  2. Canisius College, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Sarah J. Blakely McClure

  3. University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Jamie M. Ostrov

  4. Department of Psychology, Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Ave, Buckham Hall A239A, Buffalo, NY, 14222, USA

    Kimberly E. Kamper-DeMarco

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  1. Kimberly E. Kamper-DeMarco
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Correspondence to Kimberly E. Kamper-DeMarco.

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Kamper-DeMarco, K.E., McClure, S.J.B. & Ostrov, J.M. Responses to Peer Victimization and Bullying in Early Childhood. Int Journal of Bullying Prevention 5, 217–226 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-022-00156-4

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