Citation

Leff SS, Paskewich BS, Blum NJ. Pediatrics 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2020-0154

PMID

32238447

Abstract

Most youth experience peer victimization, and when chronic, it can lead to problems related to social-emotional development,1 peer relationships,1 and school engagement.2 In their study, “Early Childhood Factors Associated With Peer Victimization Trajectories from 6 to 17 Years of Age,” Oncioiu et al3 investigate peer victimization over time, beginning with the first years of school. This study is one of the largest and most extensive studies ever conducted on this topic. The authors use a repeated-measure, person-centered approach that allows for the comparison of personal trajectories over time and for causal inferences to be drawn. Four developmental trajectories of peer victimization are uncovered. Approximately one-third of children are in the low-victimization trajectory. The remaining two-thirds of children are in either the high-chronic (11%) trajectory, in which victimization is persistently higher than peers; the childhood-limited (26%) trajectory, in which early childhood victimization decreases by adolescence; or the moderate-emerging (30%) trajectory, in which victimization levels are moderate, remaining relatively steady and above normative levels, compared with those in the low-victimization trajectory across childhood and adolescence.

Given that nearly two-thirds of school-aged youth in the current study report peer victimization during elementary and/or middle school, …

Language: en