Multiple Victimization Experiences of Urban Elementary School Students: Associations with Psychosocial Functioning and Academic Performance

• NCJ Number: 218954
• Date Published: May 2007
• Length: 13 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Award: Crimes Against Children Research Center Phase 6

Annotation

This study examined the victimization experiences of 689 urban elementary school students in an ethnically diverse district in the Northeast.

Abstract

Results indicated three distinct youth profiles in terms of their victimization experiences: (1) those who experienced minimal victimization; (2) those who experienced victimization primarily by peers; and (3) those who experienced multiple types of victimization. Children who experienced multiple types of victimization experienced greater psychological distress and earned lower grades than their peers who were either minimally victimized or victimized primarily by their peers. The findings underscore the variability in youth victimization experiences and their consequences for psychological and academic functioning. The results have implications for those working with individual youth and for those working in broader school-based services in terms of their diverse treatment needs based on the type of victimization experienced. Future research on youth victimization should focus on a broader range of victimization experiences in order to shed light on the complex relationships between victimizations. Participants were 689 fifth graders recruited from 22 elementary schools in a large, urban Northeast school district. Participants completed a series of questionnaires that assessed demographic information, bullying behavior, victimization experiences, and psychological functioning. Data were analyzed using k-mean cluster analysis in SPSS. Tables, references