Wiley: Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research: Table of Contents

Peer victimization and cortisol production in children and adolescents: A systematic review

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Abstract

Purpose

To summarize the literature linking peer victimization to cortisol production in children and adolescents, with the goals of improving how these constructs are assessed and clarifying implications for health outcomes.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted across four online databases. Searches included studies examining any association between peer victimization, or bullying, and cortisol among school-age youth (ages 5–17 years).

Results

A thorough search of multiple online databases and careful consideration of inclusion and exclusion criteria following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines yielded 20 studies for detailed review. Peer victimization was consistently associated with blunted cortisol reactivity and diurnal cortisol slope, and least often associated with the cortisol awakening response.

Conclusions

Studies that expand the range of biomarkers and the diversity of youth included in the samples; that use appropriate covariates, adequate quantities of biological samples, and reliable measures; and that test theoretically grounded pathways through which peer victimization is linked to biological stress responses will advance scholarship in this field.

Learning to cope with everyday instances of social exclusion: A review of emotional and cognitive strategies for children and adolescents

Susanna Timeo, Paolo Riva, Maria Paola Paladino — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 17:44:20 -0800

Abstract

Over 20 years of research has shown that social exclusion is a pervasive and powerful form of social threat. Social exclusion causes a wide variety of negative outcomes including negative emotions and threats to fundamental human needs (i.e., self-esteem). Most importantly, experiencing exclusion during childhood or adolescence can provoke long-term negative effects such as depression and anxiety disorders. Despite the growing interest in this domain, only recent studies have started to examine possible coping strategies to contrast the negative effects of exclusion. In this article, we first review the empirical findings concerning the consequences of social exclusion in children and adolescent populations. Second, we focus on cognitive and socio-emotional strategies that children and adolescents can use to deal with exclusion when it has occurred. Implications and future directions are discussed.

The long‐term consequences of peer victimization on physical and psychological health: A longitudinal study

Priya A. Iyer‐Eimerbrink, Lauri A. Jensen‐Campbell — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 17:44:20 -0800

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined whether social and physical peer victimization in adolescence led to changes in psychological and physical health outcomes.

Methods

One hundred and twenty adolescents (boys = 54) and a parent completed measures of peer victimization and health approximately 2 years apart.

Results

Results indicated that both social and physical victimization were related to increases in the frequency and severity of health problems over the assessment period.

Conclusions

Increases in social, but not physical victimization, were related to more internalizing problems as well as greater frequency and severity of health problems at the second assessment. Anxious depression and severity of health problems at the first assessment were related to increases in social, but not physical forms of victimization over the 2-year period. These results continue to shed light on the notion that being peer victimized is not a normal part of life and is not necessarily something that adolescents will reconcile with time.

Adolescent patterns of peer victimization: Concurrent and longitudinal health correlates

Megan E. Ames, Bonnie J. Leadbeater, Gabriel J. Merrin, Clea M. B. Sturgess — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 17:44:20 -0800

Abstract

Purpose

We examined how heterogeneity in the patterns of adolescent experiences of different types and severity of peer victimization is associated with concurrent and longitudinal mental health, substance use, and physical health.

Method

Data come from a randomly recruited community-based sample of youth (T1 ages 12–18; N = 662; 52% female) followed biennially across 10 years (T6 ages 22–29; n = 478; 55% female).

Results

Using latent class analysis, we identified four classes of adolescent peer victimization: Low victimization (63%), Physical victimization only (15%), Relational victimization only (17%), and Poly-victimization (6%). Youth in the Poly-victimization class reported the most detrimental health consequences in adolescence (e.g., internalizing and externalizing symptoms, illicit drug use, physical symptoms, poor physical self-concept, physical activity) and in young adulthood (e.g., depressive symptoms, sleep problems). Youth in the Relational and Physical victimization classes also reported health problems, some of which persisted into young adulthood. Youth in the Low victimization class reported the fewest health concerns.

Conclusions

Findings add to our understanding of how different types of adolescent victimization are related to mental health, substance use, and physical health problems both within adolescence and long-term.

Unraveling the long‐term links among adolescent peer victimization and somatic symptoms: A 5‐year multi‐informant cohort study

Kirsty S. Lee, Tracy Vaillancourt — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 17:44:20 -0800

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the prospective associations among peer victimization and somatic symptoms across 5 years of adolescence using multiple informants and disaggregating effects at the within-person and between-person level.

Methods

From age 13–17 years, 612 Canadian children (54% girls; 76% White) completed measures of peer victimization and somatic symptoms. Parents (89% mothers) reported on their child's somatic symptoms. We built autoregressive latent trajectory models with structured residuals, controlling for diagnosed medical and psychiatric conditions, sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Results

Within-person, self-reported somatic symptoms were stable across time and there were bidirectional associations between peer victimization and somatic symptoms across the 5-year period. The magnitude of effect was strongest from somatic symptoms to peer victimization. Between-person, being a girl or having a psychiatric diagnosis predicted higher mean levels and rising trajectories of somatic symptoms and higher mean levels of peer victimization. The level of peer victimization among non-White participants increased over time. In the parent-reported model, somatic symptoms were less stable and did not predict peer victimization.

Conclusions

The results highlight the dynamic processes between peer victimization and somatic symptoms. Increased effort is needed to protect adolescents with psychiatric problems, girls, and ethnic minorities from peer abuse.

Issue Information

Sun, 15 Dec 2019 17:44:20 -0800

Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, Volume 24, Issue 4, December 2019.