Gender Differences in and Gender Moderation of Peer Victimization and Its Correlates

Jordan BarnadaDr. Julie HubbardPsychology Department

Introduction•The problem of bullying•Bullying-prevention programs•What about gender?•Literature review

▫Very inconsistent results▫Not enough information

Goals of the Study1. To provide a more thorough examination

of gender differences in victimization2. To investigate whether gender moderates

the relations between victimization and a range of negative correlates

Moderation•Relationship between 2 things

▫What’s the strength of that relationship? Strength can be different for boys vs. girls

Victimization

Depression

Gender

Moderation cont’d

Victimization

Dep

ress

ion

Boys

Girls

Hypotheses1. Boys will experience more victimization2. Gender moderation will occur for some

correlatesa. Depressionb. Anxietyc. School avoidanced. Peer rejectione. Somatizationf. Social withdrawal

Participants•1760 children•4th and 5th graders in 94 classrooms in 12

schools•49% female, 51% male•Racial/Ethnic Breakdown

▫European American: 47.1%▫Latino American: 18.3%▫African American: 16.2%▫Mixed Race: 7.2%▫Asian American: 6.0%▫American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.7%

•Average age = 10 years old

MeasuresReport Type Self-report Peer-report Teacher-

reportAggregate

Victimization

Depression

Anxiety

Somatization

Peer RejectionSocial Withdrawal

School Avoidance

Results

Hypothesis 1: Gender Differences in Victimization by Report TypeReport Type

Finding Mean Min. Max. df p value

Self- ReportGVI

No difference

Girls: 1.66Boys: 1.61

1 5 1737 .24

Self- Report PVS

Boys > Girls Girls: 1.89Boys: 1.97

1 4 1717 .04*

Peer-Report

Boys > Girls Girls: -0.10Boys: 0.10

-2.32 4.45 1852 .00**

Teacher-Report

Boys > Girls Girls: 1.21Boys: 1.35

1 4 1819 .00**

Aggregate Boys > Girls Girls: -0.07Boys: 0.08

-.97 3.42 1840 .00**

Note. *p<0.05. **p<0.01

Interaction Terms (Victimization x Gender) in Regressions to Examine Gender Moderation of Relations Between Victimization and Outcomes

Variable B Std. Error t-statistic Sig.Depression(Self-Report)

-.03 .02 -1.39 .17

Depression(Teacher-Report)

.05 .02 2.45 .02*

Anxiety(Teacher-Report)

.02 .02 .79 .43

Somatization(Teacher-Report)

.01 .01 .45 .65

Peer Rejection(Peer-Report)

.13 .06 2.26 .02*

Peer Rejection (Teacher-Report)

.12 .05 2.54 .01*

Social Withdrawal (Teacher-Report)

.05 .03 1.82 .07

School Avoidance (Teacher-Report)

.02 .02 1.29 .20

Hypothesis 2- Depression: Teacher-Report• Boys > Girls on strength of relation between victimization

and depression

Hypothesis 2- Peer Rejection: Peer-Report • Boys > Girls on strength of relation between victimization

and peer rejection

Hypothesis 2- Peer Rejection: Teacher-Report

• Boys > Girls on strength of relation between victimization and peer rejection

Strengths Limitations•Measured robustly•3 types of reports

•Studied physical and verbal victimization

•Broader range of outcomes

•Large bulk of data is from teacher-reports

•One time point•Developmentally limited

The Future•Implications

▫Gender-segregated anti-bullying programs may be more effective

▫Different treatment interventions can be created/utilized based on gender

•Research▫More self & peer measures▫Longitudinal studies▫Expand sample

Acknowledgements•My Faculty Mentor

▫Dr. Julie Hubbard•McNair Scholars Program Staff

▫Dr. Kim Saunders, Tiffany Scott, Natalie Cook, Nicole Mozee

•Peer Relations Lab Graduate Students▫Megan Bookhout, Marissa Smith, Lauren

Swift, Stevie Grassetti•My fellow McNair Scholars

Descriptive Statistics

Bivariate CorrelationsVariable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 81. Aggregated Victimization

2. Self-Reported Depression .37**

3. Teacher-Reported Depression .47** .16**

4. Teacher-Reported Anxiety .27** .08** .61**

5. Teacher-Reported Somatization .20** .06** .37** .34**

6. Peer-Reported Peer Rejection .42** .13** .36** .15** .15**

7. Teacher- Reported Peer Rejection .42** .13* .56** .35** .19** .44*

8. Teacher- Reported Social Withdrawal

.44** .14** .65** .41** .21** .39** .78**

9. Teacher- Reported School Avoidance

.27** .09** .46** .30** .65** .22** .23** .29**

Note. *p<0.05. **p<0.01