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Psychological Distress and Student Engagement as Mediators of the Relationship between Peer Victimization and Achievement in Middle School Youth

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Abstract

Peer victimization is a well-known national and international problem, contributing to a range of emotional, social, and behavioral consequences. Using structural equation modeling, the authors tested a theoretical model suggesting that psychological distress and student engagement mediate the association between the experience of victimization and concurrent academic achievement. Participants were 469 (46.4 % male, 53.6 % female) 6th to 8th grade students, from randomly selected classrooms in 11 middle schools in a southeastern school district. Structural equation models of the hypothesized effects demonstrated adequate fit to the data, with both symptoms of psychological distress and engagement mediating the relationship between victimization and academic achievement. In general, the results suggest that victimization predicts diminished academic achievement by way of psychological distress and poorer engagement in classroom and academic tasks. However, the direct relationship between victimization and measures of achievement lacked significance across many correlational and path analyses conducted. These findings have implications for researchers and practitioners in understanding how psychological distress and student engagement are associated with the academic performance of students who experience peer victimization.

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Notes

  1. The simple correlation between victimization and achievement was non-significant, potentially violating Baron and Kenny’s rules for mediation (Baron and Kenny 1986). Recent work suggests that the requirement for a significant a priori predictor-dependent variable relationship may not be necessary to determine mediation (Shrout and Bolger 2002), particularly when there is theoretical evidence to suggest that the effect size between the variables could be small or additional, undetected mediators may be at work in the model. Researchers studying the underlying mechanisms of Baron and Kenny’s prerequisites to mediation have determined that the significance test for the predictor-dependent relationship can, in fact, rightfully fail given the direction of relationships estimated in a mediation model (Zhao et al. 2010). If pathways in the indirect portion of the model (i.e., victimization → psychological distress → student engagement; positive and negative directions) have directionality that is opposite of the predictor-dependent relationship (victimization → achievement; negative direction), it is entirely possible for the predictor-dependent variable relationship to result in a model pathway with small effect size and to be non-significant in the zero-order effect test of the relationship (e.g., simple correlation).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ray Gadd, Katherine Divine, Sherri Dunham, Melinda Hess, and Amelia Van Name Larson with the partnering school district; Dr. Delbert Elliott with the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado Boulder; University research assistants; and the students and staff with participating schools for their efforts in making this study possible. We also appreciate the valuable contributions of Drs. George Batsche, Michael Brannick, Carol MacKinnon-Lewis, Vicky Phares, Kevin Thompson, and Qutayba Abdullatif on study conceptualization and research design.

Author contributions

CT had the primary responsibility for designing the study, collecting and analyzing the data, and preparing the manuscript. MK provided substantial input in the conceptualization of and in conducting the study. EG assisted with the development and implementation of the research design and data collection protocol.

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  1. Christine M. Wienke Totura

    Present address: College of Education, Northern Arizona University, 15601 North 28th Avenue, Suite 136, Phoenix, AZ, 85053, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, Arizona State University, 411 North Central Avenue, Suite 720, Phoenix, AZ, 85004, USA

    Christine M. Wienke Totura

  2. Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, PCD 4118G, Tampa, FL, 33624, USA

    Marc S. Karver & Ellis L. Gesten

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  1. Christine M. Wienke Totura
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Correspondence to Christine M. Wienke Totura.

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Totura, C.M.W., Karver, M.S. & Gesten, E.L. Psychological Distress and Student Engagement as Mediators of the Relationship between Peer Victimization and Achievement in Middle School Youth. J Youth Adolescence 43, 40–52 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9918-4

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