International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences
Year : 2017, Volume : 6, Issue : 7
First page : ( 43) Last page : ( 53)
Online ISSN : 2278-6236.

A study of social contextual factors that promote the cyclical relations between peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment of Indian children living in New Zealand

Dr Acharya Soumen

Consultant, National Institute of Public Co-operation and Child Development, New Delhi, India

Online published on 5 December, 2019.

Abstract

The study is based upon previous work done by Hodges & Perry, that suggests that longitudinal relations between victimization and negative psychosocial outcomes, as well as between psychosocial maladjustment and the consequential experience of peer victimization, may be moderated by social or interpersonal factors. Participants were 10 sixth and seventh graders (08boys and 02 girls, mean age = 14.23) from two urban middle schools of wellington. They were Indian. All students received parental consent, signed assent forms, and completed several measures over the course of two days at two different time points, 6 months apart. As expected, interpersonal factors moderated many of the longitudinal associations between the personal factors and victimization. Most notably, victimization predicted increases in internalizing behaviors (anxiety/depression and withdrawal) only under higher levels of peer rejection and number of reciprocated enemies, and lower levels of peer acceptance. Additionally, anxiety/depression predicted increases in victimization over time, again only under high levels of the negative interpersonal factors. These results underscore the importance of recognizing social contextual factors that promote the cyclical relations between peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment

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Keywords

Peer victimization, cyclical relation, psychosocial maladjustment.

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