Correction to: Consequences of Childhood Bullying on Mental Health and Relationships for Young Adults An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Correction to: Relational Violence, Social Support, Self-Esteem, Depression and Anxiety: A Moderated Mediation Model An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Pathways from Cyberbullying Victimization to Negative Health Outcomes among Elementary School Students: a Longitudinal Investigation Abstract Growing concern about the negative effects experienced by youth exposed to cyberbullying victimization has led to a rapid increase of scientific inquiry in this area in recent years. However, few studies have focused on younger children despite some evidence suggesting substantial technology use among children in elementary school. To that end, the purpose of the present study was to explore change in cyberbullying victimization across time among a sample of elementary school students and to examine how such change impacted later health-related outcomes. A total of 660 and 960 3rd through 5th grade students participated in year one and year two of the study respectively. Latent-variable growth curve modeling (LGM) was used to examine changes in cyberbullying victimization across four waves of data and to explore the impact of these changes on later social, emotional and academic outcomes. Results revealed no consistent pattern of growth in victimization among participants over the course of the study. However, initial levels of cyberbullying victimization were significantly different from zero, suggesting that a notable number of participants reported exposure to this form of victimization at baseline data collection. Further, initial levels of cyberbullying victimization were found to have a significant impact on later health outcomes, including self-esteem and school connection with depressive symptoms approaching significance.

The Role of Classmates’ Social Support, Peer Victimization and Gender in Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors among Canadian Youth Abstract There is sound evidence that increased level of peer support is linked negatively with youth vulnerably to internalizing and externalizing problems. Conversely, victimization by peers is associated positively with youth adjustment difficulties. The current study examines the mediating role of victimization in the association between classmates’ support and internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and the moderating role of gender in that association. The study is based on a sample of 243 7th grade Canadian adolescents. The results show that classmates’ support has a unique contribution to reduced adolescents’ internalizing behaviors above and beyond the effects of parental and teachers’ support. This association was partially mediated by youth victimization. Classmates’ support was a stronger predictor of internalizing behaviors among females compared to males. With respect to externalizing behaviors, the results indicated that while classmates’ support has no direct association with that outcome, parental support plays a central role in predicting externalizing behaviors. The association between classmates’ support and externalizing behavior was fully mediated by youth victimization. The current study highlights the importance of support by peers, with whom they interact on a regular basis, to adolescents’ well-being and functioning. The results also indicate that parents are still significant figures in adolescents’ lives. Those facts should be taken into account when intervening with young people.

Subtypes of Peer Victimization, Depressive Symptoms, and Self-harm Behaviors Among Children Affected by Parental HIV Abstract Objectives Peer victimization is a salient stressor contributing to self-harm behaviors in children. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this process are not well understood. The aim of this study was to examine the role of depressive symptoms in the relationships between subtypes of peer victimization and self-harm behaviors among children affected by parental HIV using a prospective design. Methods Participants in this study consisted of a subsample (N= 521, 6–12 years of age at baseline) of a larger research project on the psychological adjustment of children affected by parental HIV. Children self-reported subtypes of peer victimization including physical, verbal, and relational forms, depressive symptoms, and self-harm behaviors. Results Structural equation models showed that verbal victimization, but not physical or relational victimization, was associated with increases in self-harm behaviors over a 24-month period (β = 0.18, p = 0.029). Moreover, the association between verbal victimization and self-harm behaviors was mediated by increases in depressive symptoms (indirect effect = 0.04, 95%CI [0.01, 0.08]), controlling for baseline self-harm behaviors, depressive symptoms, gender, AIDS orphan status, and age. In addition, such a mediation pathway was consistent across gender. Conclusions Depressive symptoms might be a psychological mechanism linking verbal victimization to self-harm behaviors among children affected by parental HIV. The findings highlight the importance of detection of depressive symptoms as a potential way to prevent self-harm behaviors among victimized children or those at high risk of experiencing peer victimization such as children affected by parental HIV.

Effects of Bullying Victimization on Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Alexithymia Abstract Objectives Bullying victimization increases the risk of displaying internalized and externalized symptoms and alexithymia traits among adolescents. The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of Alexithymia in the relationships between bullying victimization and internalized and externalized symptoms. Methods A total of 1092 students and their teachers (N = 67) of 4th to 6th grade anonymously completed a series of measures about experiences of bullying victimization, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and alexithymia. Results Our data suggest that three types of bullying victimization (verbal, physical and social) predicted internalized, externalized and alexithimic symptoms. Furthermore, alexithymia partially mediated the positive effect of all the three types of bullying victimization on both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Conclusions This study provided empirical data about the mediating role of alexithimia in exacerbation of internalized and externalized symptoms among adolescents and pre-adolescents exposed to three types of bullying victimization.

Bullying and Psychological Distress in a Vulnerable Group: Youth in Residential Child Care Abstract Objectives Previous research has shown that children and youths in residential childcare are exposed to different aggressive behaviors, including peer violence. However, research that has analyzed prevalence of bullying and its relation with psychological distress in this vulnerable group is scarce. Our study was designed to extend previous research, help explain the role of the residential childcare context in bullying behaviors, and explore the relation of bullying with psychological distress among youths in residential childcare in Spain. Method Fifty-six youths living in residential childcare facilities and 1481 living consistently with at least one biological parent participated. Their age range was 10–15 years. The Bullyharm scale was used to measure bullying. Psychological distress was measured by the Kessler Scale (K10). Results Youths living in residential childcare reported higher levels of victimization and perpetration than their peers living with their biological parents. The regressions analyses revealed that living in residential childcare facilities positively correlated with psychological distress and perpetration. Conclusions The residential childcare context is important for understanding individual differences in bullying participation and psychological distress. Future research should continue examining the factors related to bullying in this vulnerable group.

Prospective Associations between Aggression/Bullying and Adjustment in Preschool: Is General Aggression Different from Bullying Behavior? Abstract In the current paper, two short-term longitudinal studies were conducted to examine relational aggression and relational bullying as differential predictors of relational victimization and health-related outcomes (i.e., social maladjustment problems). In Study 1, teachers completed reports of preschoolers’ (N = 124; M age = 44.88 months; SD = 4.52; 41.1% girls) physical and relational aggression, bullying behavior, and peer victimization at two time points. Hierarchical models revealed that, consistent with study hypotheses, relational aggression but not relational bullying predicted increases in relational victimization. Study 2 (N = 105; M age = 46.78 months; SD = 7.47; 52.4% girls) improved upon several limitations of Study 1 by having multiple informants and addressing collinearity concerns. Specifically, two variables were created, relational severity and relational directionality, reflecting the commonalities and differences between relational aggression and relational bullying respectively. Results of Study 2 generally replicated the overall pattern of findings of Study 1 with a more conservative model. Results indicated that relational directionality tended to be negatively associated with increases in social maladjustment problems. These results suggest that, relative to relational bullying, relational aggression tended to be associated with increases in social maladjustment problems. These findings provide support for distinguishing between subtypes of both aggression and bullying behavior (i.e., physical and relational) in the developmental literature.

Examining Pathways between Bully Victimization, Depression, & School Belonging Among Early Adolescents Abstract Objectives The relationship between bully victimization and depression has been examined extensively with prior research showing long-term cascade of problems stemming from both exposure to victimization and depressive symptomology. However, prior research has failed to consider how protective factors may mitigate these long-term problems. Three theoretical models were tested: the interpersonal risk model, symptom driven model, and transactional model. Methods The present study employs a novel statistical technique to explore longitudinal reciprocal associations among bullying, depression, and school belonging in a sample of 2177 middle school students (ages 11 to 15) in a Midwestern state. We used a model building process to explore the overall association between bully victimization, depression, and school belonging as well as a multi-group model in which models were estimated for boys and girls, separately. Results In our overall model, results indicated support for both symptom driven and interpersonal risk models. However, we did not find any significant buffering effect of school belonging. In our multi-group model, we found support for a buffering effect of school belonging for girls, but not boys. School belonging buffered long term problems associated with experiences of bully victimization via reductions in depression. Conclusions Our findings point to the broader concept of school structure being differentially supportive and protective for various demographic groups and the need to consider the entire social ecology of a school when planning and implementing prevention interventions.

Consequences of Bullying on Adolescents’ Mental Health in Germany: Comparing Face-to-Face Bullying and Cyberbullying Abstract The present study explored whether face-to-face bullying (physical as well as relational), cyberbullying, and teachers’ bullying have a negative impact on adolescent’s mental health and whether there are gender differences. Analyses are based on a representative cross-sectional standardised survey of 10,638 students of the nineth grade of one federal state of Germany. Findings show that psychological cyberbullying is most strongly associated with poor mental health for both boys and girls. Relational bullying by classmates as well as by teachers also show a significant correlation with poor mental health. For girls, there appears to be an additional relationship between sexual cyberbullying and mental health. Physical forms of bullying were not found to be associated with mental health. Implications for research are discussed.