Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T22:02:02.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The expression and regulation of negative emotions: Risk factors for young children's peer victimization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2004

LAURA D. HANISH ,
NANCY EISENBERG ,
RICHARD A. FABES ,
TRACY L. SPINRAD ,
PATTI RYAN  and
SHANA SCHMIDT
LAURA D. HANISH
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
NANCY EISENBERG
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
RICHARD A. FABES
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
TRACY L. SPINRAD
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
PATTI RYAN
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
SHANA SCHMIDT
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Using a short-term longitudinal design, internalizing and externalizing emotions were examined as risk factors for being victimized by peers in early childhood. Regulation, aggression, and withdrawal were also tested as mediators. We found that anger, mediated by aggression and regulation, positively predicted being victimized, although the way in which anger related to victimization risk varied for boys and girls and across time. These findings were robust, particularly for girls, attesting to the importance of externalizing variables as risk factors for young children's victimization. Support for internalizing variables as risk factors for being victimized was weak. The implications of the findings for developmental models connecting symptomatology and victimization are discussed.The authors thank all of the students, children, parents, and teachers who participated in this research. Richard A. Fabes and Nancy Eisenberg were funded in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 HH55052 and R01 MH60838) and a Research Scientist Award to Nancy Eisenberg (K05 M801321). Laura D. Hanish was funded by an Arizona State University Faculty Grant-in-Aid. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 108th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, August 2000, Washington, DC.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2004 , pp. 335 - 353
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Alsaker, F. D., & Valkanover, S. (2001). Early diagnosis and prevention of victimization in kindergarten. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 175–195). New York: Guilford Press.
Belsky, J., Fish, M., & Isabella, R. (1991). Continuity and discontinuity in infant negative and positive emotionality: Family antecedents and attachment consequences. Developmental Psychology 27, 421–431.Google Scholar
Boivin, M., Hymel, S., & Hodges, E. V. E. (2001). Toward a process view of peer rejection and harassment. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 265–289). New York: Guilford Press.
Briggs–Gowan, M. J., Carter, A. S., & Schwab–Stone, M. (1996). Discrepancies among mother, child, and teacher reports: Examining the contribution of maternal depression and anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 24, 749–765.Google Scholar
Calkins, S. D., Gill, K. L., Johnson, M. D., & Smith, C. L. (1999). Emotional reactivity and emotional regulation strategies as predictors of social behavior with peers during toddlerhood. Social Development 8, 311–334.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Ackerman, B. P., & Izard, C. E. (1995). Emotions and emotion regulation in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology 7, 1–10.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1995). Developmental psychopathology and disorders of affect. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 2. Risk, disorder, and adaptation (pp. 369–420). New York: Wiley.
Cole, P. M., Zahn–Waxler, C., Fox, N. A., Usher, B. A., & Welsh, J. D. (1996). Individual differences in emotion regulation and behavior problems in preschool children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 105, 518–529.Google Scholar
Crick, N. R., Casas, J. F., & Ku, H.-C. (1999). Relational and physical forms of peer victimization in preschool. Developmental Psychology 35, 376–385.Google Scholar
Davis, C. H., MacKinnon, D. P., Schultz, A., & Sandler, I. (2003). Cumulative risk and population attributable fraction in prevention. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 32, 228–235.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., Spinrad, T. L., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Reiser, M., Murphy, B. C., Losoya, S. H., & Guthrie, I. K. (2001). The relations of regulation and emotionality to children's externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Child Development 72, 1112–1134.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Guthrie, I. K., & Reiser, M. (2000). Dispositional emotionality and regulation: Their role in predicting quality of social functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78, 136–157.Google Scholar
Fabes, R. A., Martin, C. L., & Hanish, L. D. (2003). Young children's play qualities in same-, other-, and mixed-sex peer groups. Child Development 74, 921–932.Google Scholar
Goldsmith, H. H., Lemery, K. S., Aksan, N., & Buss, K. A. (2000). Temperamental substrates of personality development. In D. Molfese & V. Molfese (Eds.), Temperament and personality development across the lifespan (pp. 1–32). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hanish, L. D., & Guerra, N. G. (2000). Predictors of peer victimization among urban youth. Social Development 9, 521–543.Google Scholar
Hanish, L. D., & Guerra, N. G. (2002). A longitudinal analysis of patterns of adjustment following peer victimization. Development and Psychopathology 14, 69–89.Google Scholar
Hanish, L. D., Kochenderfer–Ladd, B., Fabes, R. A., Martin, C. L., & Denning, D. (2004). Bullying among young children: The influence of peers and teachers. In D. Espelage & S. Swearer (Eds.), Bullying in American schools: A social ecological perspective on prevention and intervention (pp. 141–159). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hart, C. H., Yang, C., Nelson, L. J., Robinson, C. C., Olsen, J. A., Nelson, D. A., Porter, C. L., Jin, S., Olsen, S. F., & Wu, P. (2000). Peer acceptance in early childhood and subypes of socially withdrawn behaviour in China, Russia, and the United States. International Journal of Behavioral Development 24, 73–81.Google Scholar
Hawker, D. S. J., & Boulton, M. J. (2000). Twenty years' research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 41, 441–455.Google Scholar
Hubbard, J. A., & Coie, J. D. (1994). Emotional correlates of social competence in children's peer relationships. Merrill Palmer Quarterly 40, 1–20.Google Scholar
Kochanska, G. (1995). Children's temperament, mothers' discipline, and security of attachment: Multiple pathways to emerging internalization. Child Development 66, 597–615.Google Scholar
Kochenderfer, B. J., & Ladd, G. W. (1996). Peer victimization: Cause or consequence of school maladjustment? Child Development 67, 1305–1317.Google Scholar
Kochenderfer, B. J., & Ladd, G. W. (1997). Victimized children's responses to peers' aggression: Behaviors associated with reduced versus continued victimization. Development and Psychopathology 9, 59–73.Google Scholar
Kumpulainen, K., Räsänen, E., & Puura, K. (2001). Psychiatric disorders and the use of mental health services among children involved in bullying. Aggressive Behavior 27, 102–110.Google Scholar
Ladd, G. W., & Profilet, S. M. (1996). The Child Behavior scale: A teacher-report measure of young children's aggressive, withdrawn and prosocial behaviors. Developmental Psychology 32, 1008–1024.Google Scholar
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33, 159–174.Google Scholar
Lemery, K. S., Gahagan, A. L., & Goldsmith, H. H. (July, 1999). Exploring the etiology of the relationship between temperament and behavior problems with temperamentally extreme twins [Abstract]. Behavior Genetics, 29, 361.Google Scholar
Lengua, L. J. (2002). The contribution of emotionality and self-regulation to the understanding of children's response to multiple risk. Child Development 2002, 144–161.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, D. P., Krull, J. L., & Lockwood, C. M. (2000). Equivalence of the mediation, confounding, and suppression effect. Prevention Science 1, 173–181.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods 7, 83–104.Google Scholar
Martin, C. L., & Fabes, R. A. (2001). The stability and consequences of young children's same-sex peer interactions. Developmental Psychology 37, 431–446.Google Scholar
Nunally, J. C. (1976). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw–Hill.
Olson, S. L. (1992). Development of conduct problems and peer rejection in preschool children: A social systems analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 20, 327–350.Google Scholar
Olweus, D. (1978). Aggression in the schools: Bullies and whipping boys. Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
Olweus, D. (1993). Victimization by peers: Antecedents and long-term outcomes. In K. H. Rubin & J. B. Asendorpf (Eds.), Social withdrawal, inhibition, and shyness in childhood (pp. 315–341). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Parker, J. G., Rubin, K. H., Price, J. M., & DeRosier, M. E. (1995). Peer relationships, child development, and adjustment: A developmental psychopathology perspective. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2. Risk, disorder, and adaptation. Oxford: Wiley.
Patterson, G. R., Littman, R. A., & Bricker, W. (1967). Assertive behavior in children: A step toward a theory of aggression. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 32(2–3, Serial No. 113).Google Scholar
Pellegrini, A. D., Bartini, M., & Brooks, F. (1999). School bullies, victims, and aggressive victims: Factors relating to group affiliation and victimization in early adolescence. Journal of Educational Psychology 91, 216–224.Google Scholar
Perry, D. G., Kusel, S. J., & Perry, L. C. (1988). Victims of peer aggression. Developmental Psychology 24, 807–814.Google Scholar
Phillipsen, L. C., Bridges, S. K., McLemore, T. G., & Saponaro, L. A. (1999). Perceptions of social behavior and peer acceptance in kindergarten. Journal of Research in Childhood Education 14, 68–77.Google Scholar
Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., & Hershey, K. L. (1994). Temperament and social behavior in childhood. Merrill–Palmer Quarterly 40, 21–39.Google Scholar
Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., Hershey, K. L., & Fisher, P. (2001). Investigations of temperament at three to seven years: The Children's Behavior Questionnaire. Child Development 72, 1394–1408.Google Scholar
Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (1998). Temperament. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., pp. 105–176). New York: Wiley.
Rubin, K. H., Bukowski, W., & Parker, J. G. (1998). Peer interactions, relationships, and groups. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., pp. 619–700). New York: Wiley.
Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., Fox, N. A., & Calkins, S. D. (1995). Emotionality, emotion regulation, and preschoolers' social adaptation. Development and Psychopathology 7, 49–62.Google Scholar
Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., Coie, J. D., Hubbard, J. A., Cillessen, A. H. N., Lemerise, E. A., & Bateman, H. (1998). Social–cognitive and behavioral correlates of aggression and victimization in boys' play groups. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 26, 431–440.Google Scholar
Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. P., & Bates, J. E. (1997). The early socialization of aggressive victims of bullying. Child Development 68, 665–675.Google Scholar
Schwartz, D., McFadyen–Ketchum, S. A., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1998). Peer group victimization as a predictor of children's behavior problems at home and in school. Development and Psychopathology 10, 87–99.Google Scholar
Schwartz, D., & Proctor, L. J. (2000). Community violence exposure and children's social adjustment in the school peer group: The mediating roles of emotion regulation and social cognition. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68, 670–683.Google Scholar
Schwartz, D., Proctor, L. J., & Chien, D. H. (2001). The aggressive victim of bullying: Emotional and behavioral dysregulation as a pathway to victimization by peers. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 147–174). New York: Guilford Press.
Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (2001). Parental maltreatment and emotional dysregulation as risk factors for bullying and victimization in middle childhood. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 30, 349–363.Google Scholar
Shields, A., Ryan, R. M., & Cicchetti, D. (2001). Narrative representations of caregivers and emotional dysregulation as predictors of maltreated children's rejection by peers. Developmental Psychology 37, 321–337.Google Scholar
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1989). Using multivariate statistics (2nd ed.). New York: Harper Collins.
Wilton, M. M. M., Craig, W. M., & Pepler, D. J. (2000). Emotional regulation and display in classroom victims of bullying: Characteristic expressions of affect, coping styles and relevant contextual factors. Social Development 9, 227–245.Google Scholar
Younger, A. J., Schwartzman, A. E., & Ledingham, J. E. (1985). Age-related changes in children's perceptions of aggression and withdrawal in their peers. Developmental Psychology 21, 70–75.Google Scholar
Zeman, J., & Garber, J. (1996). Display rules for anger, sadness, and pain: It depends on who is watching. Child Development 67, 957–973.Google Scholar