IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i3p1085-d487229.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Examination of Peer Victimization and Internalizing Problems through a Racial Equity Lens: Does School Connectedness Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Danielle R. Eugene

    (School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA)

  • Jandel Crutchfield

    (School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA)

  • Erica D. Robinson

    (School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA)

Abstract

Although research has given ample consideration to the association between peer victimization and internalizing problems, little is known about the mediating and moderating influences on this relationship. This study investigated whether peer victimization at age 9 indirectly related to internalizing problems at age 15 via school connectedness and whether the direct and indirect associations between peer victimization and internalizing problems were moderated by race. Data were drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which included 2467 adolescents. The sample was equally divided between male and female and 82% identified as Black and Hispanic. Results indicated that the predictive effect of peer victimization over a 6-year period on teen depression and anxiety was explained by increased school connectedness. Furthermore, there was a moderating effect of race on the direct effect of school connectedness and teen depression and anxiety. For both White and ethnic minority youth, increased school connectedness was associated with less teen depression and anxiety. However, this effect was weaker for ethnic minority students in comparison to White students in both moderated mediation models. The moderated mediation results for teen anxiety showed a greater differential effect among race. The findings have important implications, which are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Danielle R. Eugene & Jandel Crutchfield & Erica D. Robinson, 2021. "An Examination of Peer Victimization and Internalizing Problems through a Racial Equity Lens: Does School Connectedness Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:1085-:d:487229
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/1085/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/1085/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Foster, Cynthia Ewell & Horwitz, Adam & Thomas, Alvin & Opperman, Kiel & Gipson, Polly & Burnside, Amanda & Stone, Deborah M. & King, Cheryl A., 2017. "Connectedness to family, school, peers, and community in socially vulnerable adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 321-331.
    2. Joyce, Hilary D. & Early, Theresa J., 2014. "The impact of school connectedness and teacher support on depressive symptoms in adolescents: A multilevel analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 101-107.
    3. Reichman, Nancy E. & Teitler, Julien O. & Garfinkel, Irwin & McLanahan, Sara S., 2001. "Fragile Families: sample and design," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4-5), pages 303-326.
    4. Tyler Hatchel & Robert Marx, 2018. "Understanding Intersectionality and Resiliency among Transgender Adolescents: Exploring Pathways among Peer Victimization, School Belonging, and Drug Use," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Lubhana Malik Mental, 2019. "Mental Health in Adolescents," Global Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 6(3), pages 45-46, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Danielle R. Eugene, 2021. "Connectedness to Family, School, and Neighborhood and Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-13, November.
    2. Katelyn Battista & Karen A. Patte & Liqun Diao & Joel A. Dubin & Scott T. Leatherdale, 2022. "Using Decision Trees to Examine Environmental and Behavioural Factors Associated with Youth Anxiety, Depression, and Flourishing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-16, August.
    3. David Montero-Montero & Paula López-Martínez & Belén Martínez-Ferrer & David Moreno-Ruiz, 2021. "The Mediating Role of Classroom Climate on School Violence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-8, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Choi, Mijin & Lee, Sei-Young & Kim, Jangmin & Lee, Jungup, 2024. "The interaction of race/ethnicity and school-connectedness in presenting internalizing and externalizing behaviors among adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    2. Hill, Susan M. & Byrne, Matthew F. & Wenden, Elizabeth & Devine, Amanda & Miller, Margaret & Quinlan, Henrietta & Cross, Donna & Eastham, Judy & Chester, Miranda, 2023. "Models of school breakfast program implementation in Western Australia and the implications for supporting disadvantaged students," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    3. Chen Wang, Yudan & McLeroy, Amanda M., 2023. "Poverty, parenting stress, and adolescent mental health: The protective role of school connectedness reexamined," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    4. Danielle R. Eugene, 2021. "Connectedness to Family, School, and Neighborhood and Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-13, November.
    5. Katherine Klee & John P. Bartkowski, 2022. "Minding Mental Health: Clinicians’ Engagement with Youth Suicide Prevention," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-20, May.
    6. Amanda Geller & Ellis Monk, 2019. "Race, Skin Tone, and Police Contact Among Contemporary Teens," Working Papers wp19-07-ff, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    7. Allison Dwyer Emory, 2019. "Unintended Consequences: Protective State Policies and the Employment of Fathers with Criminal Records," Working Papers wp19-04-ff, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    8. Julia S. Goldberg, 2011. "Identity Salience and Involvement among Resident and Nonresident Fathers," Working Papers 1323, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    9. Ronald Mincy & Jennifer Hill & Marilyn Sinkewicz, 2009. "Marriage: Cause or mere indicator of future earnings growth?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 417-439.
    10. Natasha V. Pilkauskas, 2012. "Instability in Three-Generation Family Households and Child Wellbeing," Working Papers 1429, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    11. McGovern, Mark E. & Rokicki, Slawa & Reichman, Nancy E., 2022. "Maternal depression and economic well-being: A quasi-experimental approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    12. Mayer, Yael & Ilan, Rotem & Slone, Michelle & Lurie, Ido, 2020. "Relations between traumatic life events and mental health of Eritrean asylum-seeking mothers and their children's mental health," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    13. Kelly Noonan & Nancy E. Reichman & Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave, 2007. "Prenatal drug use and the production of infant health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(4), pages 361-384, April.
    14. Wang, Lin & Ngai, Steven Sek-yum, 2020. "The effects of anonymity, invisibility, asynchrony, and moral disengagement on cyberbullying perpetration among school-aged children in China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    15. Jani Hartikainen & Anna-Maija Poikkeus & Eero A. Haapala & Arja Sääkslahti & Taija Finni, 2021. "Associations of Classroom Design and Classroom-Based Physical Activity with Behavioral and Emotional Engagement among Primary School Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-12, July.
    16. Samari, Goleen & Catalano, Ralph & Alcalá, Héctor E. & Gemmill, Alison, 2020. "The Muslim Ban and preterm birth: Analysis of U.S. vital statistics data from 2009 to 2018," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    17. Kathryn M. Leifheit & Gabriel L. Schwartz & Craig E. Pollack & Kathryn J. Edin & Maureen M. Black & Jacky M. Jennings & Keri N. Althoff, 2020. "Severe Housing Insecurity during Pregnancy: Association with Adverse Birth and Infant Outcomes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-12, November.
    18. repec:pri:crcwel:wp12-10-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Nancy E. Reichman & Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan, 2013. "Effects of Mental Health on Couple Relationship Status," Working Papers 1473, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    20. Xu, Wenxin & Shen, Wei & Wang, Shen, 2021. "Intervention of adolescent' mental health during the outbreak of COVID-19 using aerobic exercise combined with acceptance and commitment therapy," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    21. Marcia J. Carlson & Robin S. Högnäs, 2010. "Coparenting in Fragile Families," Working Papers 1188, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:1085-:d:487229. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.