Assessing the Impact of Harassment by Peers: Incident Characteristics and Outcomes in a National Sample of Youth

• NCJ Number: 252427
• Journal: Journal of School Violence Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: 2017 Pages: 1-24
• Author(s): Heather A. Turner; Kimberly J. Mitchell; Lisa Jones; Anne Shattuck
• Date Published: 2017
• Length: 24 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-IJ-CX-0024
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Technology Based Harassment Victimization: Placement in a Border Victimization Context

Annotation

Since few studies have empirically assessed the characteristics of peer bullying that most affect its impact, the study reported in this article addressed this research gap by using a nationally representative U.S. sample of youth ages 10-20 to examine the relative effects of a variety of potentially aggravating incident characteristics on emotional, physical health, and school-related outcomes.

Abstract

Study findings provide support for power imbalance and duration (a stronger predictor than repetition) as incident characteristics that exacerbate the negative impact of peer harassment; however, several other incident characteristics have substantial effects with or without the presence of these qualities. Injury, sexual content, involvement of multiple perpetrators, and hate/bias components of peer harassment incidents each increased at least one negative outcome. Findings point to several features of peer harassment that can provide a basis for prioritizing victimization experiences in greatest need of intervention efforts. (Publisher abstract modified)