Citation

Piek JP, Barrett NC, Allen LS, Jones A, Louise M. Br. J. Educ. Psychol. 2005; 75(Pt 3): 453-463.

Affiliation

School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1348/000709904X24573

PMID

16238876

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Past research has indicated that there is a negative relationship between victimization and self-worth. Furthermore, children with movement problems such as developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are considered at risk of both victimization and low self-worth.AIMS: This study investigated the relationship between peer-victimization and self-worth in a group of children with DCD and control children. SAMPLE: Forty-three children aged 7-11 years were identified as at risk of DCD, and were matched on age and gender with 43 control children. METHOD: Children were individually assessed using the Multi-dimensional peer victimization scale (MPVS; Mynard & Joseph, 2000) to assess the degree and type of bullying, and the self perception profile for children (SPPC; Harter, 1985) to determine self-worth. RESULTS: The two groups did not differ significantly on mean reported self-worth or mean peer-victimization. The relationship between these two measures, however, differed across group and gender. Peer victimization and self-worth were negatively correlated only for the children at risk of DCD. Furthermore, peer victimization accounted for a greater and statistically significant proportion of the variance in the self-worth of girls at risk of DCD compared with boys. This effect of peer-victimization on self-worth in girls with DCD was uniquely attributed to the effects of verbal victimization. CONCLUSIONS: Although children with and without motor coordination problems reported equivalent amounts of victimization, there were differences in the impact of that bullying. Specifically, self-worth was negatively affected by bullying for the girls with DCD. Teachers and parents should not only focus on the amount of bullying a child receives, but should also be aware of how bullying impacts differently on self-worth across groups.