DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/FP79-MW06
Defense Date
2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Albert Farrell
Second Advisor
Terri Sullivan
Third Advisor
Thomas Farmer
Abstract
Peer victimization has been shown to negatively impact youth functioning and may be especially damaging during adolescence, given the increased importance of peers. However, there is a dearth of longitudinal research examining trauma symptomatology as an outcome of peer victimization with low-income, ethnic minority adolescents. The present study investigated this relation in a predominantly African American sample of 684 students assessed at five time points between the fall of their sixth grade and seventh grade school years. Growth mixture models grouped participants with similar victimization trajectories, and latent growth models related growth trajectories of physical and relational victimization to changes in trauma symptoms. Although initial levels of victimization were unrelated to changes in trauma symptoms over time, increasing victimization was associated with increasing trauma symptoms. These findings provide insight into the relation between peer victimization and trauma in an underserved sample of adolescents, with important implications for prevention efforts.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
12-1-2014