Victimization Forms, Depression and Self-Esteem Among Black/African American, White/Caucasian, and Hispanic Adolescents
摘要
Peer victimization peaks during adolescence and can have serious consequences for victims, but research on differences by race/ethnicity in the associations of victimization forms and emotional adjustment is limited.
ObjectiveTo advance this research, this study examined self-reported physical, verbal, relational, and electronic victimization in relation to depression and self-esteem among Black/African American, White/Caucasian, and Hispanic adolescents.
MethodsCorrelational survey data were collected from a diverse sample of 437 middle school students (282 girls; M age = 12.64 years).
ResultsIn the whole sample and within each race/ethnicity, verbal and relational victimization were the most common victimization forms. When controlling for each, verbal and relational victimization were uniquely associated with depression and low self-esteem for all three races/ethnicities (most consistently for White/Caucasian adolescents). Electronic victimization was uniquely associated with emotional adjustment only for Black/African American and Hispanic adolescents.
ConclusionsThe findings support and extend existing research on race/ethnicity in peer victimization and emotional adjustment. They suggest that especially verbal and relational victimization are related to adolescent depression and low self-esteem across race/ethnicity groups, and minority youth may be at risk for emotional difficulties associated with electronic victimization.