Friendship is typically assumed to be a protective factor for victims of school bullying, so the possibility of victimization by friends is rarely explored. This study examines the prevalence of positive affiliation between the victims and aggressors in verbal and physical bullying. Peer nomination inventories were used to assess the friendship and dyadic bullying tendency among 237 Taiwanese middle school 7th graders. A total of 1,084 incidents of dyadic verbal bullying and 1,327 incidents of physical bullying were reported by the respondents. Friendship nominations among aggressors and victims could be unilateral (a peer nominates someone who does not in turn nominate them) or reciprocal (both the aggressor and the victim nominate each other as friends). Reciprocal nominations between victims and aggressors occurred in approximately 8% of cases of verbal bullying incidents and about 12% of physical bullying incidents. About 8% of victims of verbal or physical bullying unilaterally nominated the aggressor as a friend, with 9% and 12% of aggressors nominating victims as friends in the two cases. The self-reported strength of friendships was high among the reciprocal friends. Implications for the existence of bullying within friendship dyads for research and practice are discussed.
Aalsma, M., & Brown, J. ( 2008). What is bullying? Journal of Adolescent Health, 43(2), 101-102.
2.
Abou-ezzeddine, T., Schwartz, D., Chang, L., Farver, J., Xu, Y., & Lee-Shin, Y. ( 2007). Positive peer relationships and risk of victimization in Chinese and South Korean children’s peer groups. Social Development, 16(1), 106-127.
3.
Ando, M., Asakura, T., & Simons-Morton, B. (2005). Psychosocial influences on physical, verbal, and indirect bullying among Japanese early adolescents . The Journal of Early Adolescence, 25(3), 268-297.
4.
Andreou, E. ( 2001). Bully/victim problems and their association with coping behaviour in conflictual peer interactions among school-age children. Educational Psychology, 21, 59-66.
5.
Andreou, E., & Bonoti, F. ( 2010). Children’s bullying experiences expressed through drawings and self-reports. School Psychology International , 31(2), 164-177.
6.
Barboza, G., Schiamberg, L., Oehmke, J., Korzeniewski, S., Post, L., & Heraux, C. ( 2009). Individual characteristics and the multiple contexts of adolescent bullying: An ecological perspective. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(1), 101-121.
7.
Benenson, J., Carder, H., & Geib-Cole, S. ( 2008). The development of boys’ preferential pleasure in physical aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 34(2), 154-166.
8.
Beran, T. ( 2009). Correlates of peer victimization and achievement: An exploratory model. Psychology in the Schools, 46(4), 348-361.
9.
Björkqvist, K., Österman, K., & Kaukiainen, A. (2000). Intelligence-empathy = Social aggression?Aggression and Violent Behavior, 5(2), 191-200.
10.
Bollmer, J., Milich, R., Harris, M., & Maras, M. ( 2005). A friend in need: The role of friendship quality as a protective factor in peer victimization and bullying. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(6), 701-712.
11.
Boulton, M. ( 1997). Teachers’ views on bullying: Definitions, attitudes and ability to cope. British Journal of Educational Psychology , 67(2), 223-233.
12.
Boulton, M., Smith, P., & Cowie, H. ( 2010). Short-term longitudinal relationships between children’s peer victimization/bullying experiences and self-perceptions: Evidence for reciprocity. School Psychology International, 31(3), 296-311.
13.
Boulton, M., Trueman, M., Chau, C., Whitehand, C., & Amatya, K. ( 1999). Concurrent and longitudinal links between friendship and peer victimization: Implications for befriending interventions. Journal of Adolescence, 22(4), 461-466.
14.
Boulton, M., Trueman, M., & Murray, L. ( 2008). Associations between peer victimization, fear of future victimization and disrupted concentration on class work among junior school pupils. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 78(3), 473-489.
15.
Buhs, E., & Ladd, G. ( 2001). Peer rejection as antecedent of young children’s school adjustment: An examination of mediating processes. Developmental Psychology, 37(4), 550-560.
16.
Card, N., & Hodges, E. ( 2006). Shared targets for aggression by early adolescent friends . Developmental Psychology, 42(6), 1327-1338.
17.
Card, N., & Hodges, E. ( 2007). Victimization within mutually antipathetic peer relationships . Social Development, 16(3), 479-496.
18.
Cassidy, W., Jackson, M., & Brown, K. ( 2009). Sticks and stones can break my bones, but how can pixels hurt me? Students’ experiences with cyber-bullying. School Psychology International, 30(4), 383-402.
19.
Cerezo, F., & Ato, M. ( 2005). Bullying in Spanish and English pupils: A sociometric perspective using the BULL-S questionnaire. Educational Psychology , 25(4), 353-367.
20.
Chan, J. ( 2009). Where is the imbalance?Journal of School Violence, 8(2), 177-190.
21.
Coie, J., Cillessen, A., Dodge, K., Hubbard, J., Schwartz, D., Lemerise, E., et al. (1999). It takes two to fight: A test of relational factors and a method for assessing aggressive dyads. Developmental Psychology, 35(5), 1179-1188.
22.
Coyne, S., Archer, J., & Eslea, M. ( 2006). ‘We’re not friends anymore! Unless...’: The frequency and harmfulness of indirect, relational, and social aggression . Aggressive Behavior, 32(4), 294-307.
23.
Craig, W., Pepler, D., & Atlas, R. ( 2000). Observations of bullying in the playground and in the classroom. School Psychology International, 21(1), 22-36.
24.
Crick, N., & Nelson, D. ( 2002). Relational and physical victimization within friendships: Nobody told me there’d be friends like these. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30(6), 599-607.
25.
Cunningham, N. ( 2007). Level of bonding to school and perception of the school environment by bullies, victims, and bully victims. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 27(4), 457-478.
26.
Dodge, K., Price, J., Coie, J., & Christopoulos, C. (1990). On the development of aggressive dyadic relationships in boys’ peer groups. Human Development, 33(4), 260-270.
27.
Doumas, D., Pearson, C., Elgin, J., & McKinley, L. ( 2008). Adult attachment as a risk factor for intimate partner violence: The ‘mispairing’ of partners’ attachment styles . Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(5), 616-634.
28.
Due, P., & Holstein, B. ( 2008). Bullying victimization among 13 to 15 year old school children: Results from two comparative studies in 66 countries and regions . International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health , 20(2), 209-221.
29.
Due, P., Holstein, B., Lynch, J., Gabhain, S., Currie, C., Scheidt, P., et al. (2005). Bullying and symptoms among school-aged children: International comparative cross sectional study in 28 countries . European Journal of Public Health, 15(2), 128-132.
30.
Ellis, W., & Zarbatany, L. ( 2007). Explaining friendship formation and friendship stability. The role of children’s and friends’ aggression and victimization . Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 53(1), 79-104.
31.
Eslea, M., Menesini, E., Morita, Y., Mora-Merchán, J., Smith, P., Pereira, B., et al. (2004). Friendship and loneliness among bullies and victims: Data from seven countries. Aggressive Behavior , 30(1), 71-83.
32.
Espelage, D., & Holt, M. ( 2001). Bullying and victimization during early adolescence: Peer influences and psychosocial correlates. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 2(2), 123-142.
33.
Fekkes, M., Pijpers, F., Fredriks, A., Verloove-Vanhorick, S., & Vogels, T. ( 2006). Do bullied children get ill, or do ill children get bullied? A prospective cohort study on the relationship between bullying and health-related symptoms. Pediatrics, 117(5), 1568-1574.
34.
Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., & Ormrod, R. ( 2006). Kid’s stuff: The nature and impact of peer and sibling violence on younger and older children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30(12), 1401-1421.
35.
Fox, C., & Boulton, M. ( 2006). Friendship as a moderator of the relationship between social skills problems and peer victimization. Aggressive Behavior, 32(2), 110-121.
36.
Fry, D. ( 2005). Rough-and-tumble social play in humans. In A. D. Pellegrini & P. K. Smith (Eds.), The nature of play: Great apes and humans (pp. 54-85). New York: NY: Guilford Press.
37.
Garandeau, C., & Cillessen, A. ( 2006). From indirect aggression to invisible aggression: A conceptual view on bullying and peer group manipulation. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11(6), 612-625.
38.
Gest, S., Graham-Bermann, S., & Hartup, W. ( 2001). Peer experience: Common and unique features of number of friendships, social network centrality, and sociometric status. Social Development, 10(1), 23-40.
39.
Gini, G. ( 2008a). Associations among overt and relational victimization and adolescents’ satisfaction with friends: The moderating role of the need for affective relationships with friends. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(7), 812-820.
40.
Gini, G. ( 2008b). Associations between bullying behaviour, psychosomatic complaints, emotional and behavioural problems. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 44(9), 492-497.
41.
Graham, S., Bellmore, A., & Mize, J. ( 2006). Peer victimization, aggression, and their co-occurrence in middle school: Pathways to adjustment problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(3), 363-378.
42.
Grotpeter, J., & Crick, N. ( 1996). Relational aggression, overt aggression, and friendship . Child Development, 67(5), 2328-2338.
43.
Hawley, P. ( 2007). Social dominance in childhood and adolescence: Why social competence and aggression may go hand in hand. In P. Hawley (Ed.), Aggression and adaptation: The bright side to bad behavior (pp. 1-29). Mahwah: NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
44.
Hawley, P., Little, T., & Card, N. ( 2007). The allure of a mean friend: Relationship quality and processes of aggressive adolescents with prosocial skills. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(2), 170-180.
45.
Hodges, E., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. ( 1999). The power of friendship: Protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology, 35(1), 94-101.
46.
Hodges, E., & Perry, D. ( 1999). Personal and interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(4), 677-685.
47.
Huang, X., Zhou, J., & Guo, L. ( 2005). Bullying in primary school and its impact on psychosocial health. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 19(10), 676-678.
48.
Johnson, S., Frattaroli, S., Campbell, J., Wright, J., Pearson-Fields, A., & Cheng, T. ( 2005). ‘I know what love means’. Gender-based violence in the lives of urban adolescents. Journal of Women’s Health, 14(2), 172-179.
49.
Keltner, D., Capps, L., Kring, A., Young, R., & Heerey, E. ( 2001). Just teasing: A conceptual analysis and empirical review . Psychological Bulletin, 127(2), 229-248.
50.
Kerbs, J., & Jolley, J. ( 2007). The joy of violence: What about violence is fun in middle-school ? American Journal of Criminal Justice, 32(1), 12-29.
51.
Kim, S., Kamphaus, R., Orpinas, P., & Kelder, S. ( 2010). Change in the manifestation of overt aggression during early adolescence: Gender and ethnicity. School Psychology International, 31(1), 95-111.
52.
Klomek, A., Sourander, A., Kumpulainen, K., Tamminen, T., Almqvist, F., Gould, M., et al. (2008). Childhood bullying as a risk for later depression and suicidal ideation among Finnish males. Journal of Affective Disorders, 109(1), 47-55.
53.
Kochenderfer, B., & Ladd, G. ( 1997). Victimized children’s responses to peers’ aggression: Behaviors associated with reduced versus continued victimization . Development and Psychopathology, 9(1), 59-73.
54.
Koo, H., Kwak, K., & Smith, P. ( 2008). Victimization in Korean schools: The nature, incidence, and distinctive features of Korean bullying or wang-ta. Journal of School Violence, 7(4), 119-139.
55.
Kruger, J., Gordon, C., & Kuban, J. ( 2006). Intentions in teasing: When ‘just kidding’ just isn’t good enough. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(3), 412-425.
56.
Kumpulainen, K., Räsänen, E., & Puura, K. ( 2001). Psychiatric disorders and the use of mental health services among children involved in bullying. Aggressive Behavior, 27(2), 102-110.
57.
Kupersmidt, J.B., DeRosier, M.E., & Patterson, C.P. (1995). Similarity as the basis for children’s friendships: The roles of sociometric status, aggressive and withdrawn behavior, academic achievement and demographic characteristics . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 12, 439-452.
58.
Lamarche, V., Brendgen, M., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., Pérusse, D., & Dionne, G. ( 2006). Do friendships and sibling relationships provide protection against peer victimization in a similar way? Social Development , 15(3), 373-393.
59.
Land, D. ( 2003). Teasing apart secondary students’ conceptualizations of peer teasing, bullying and sexual harassment. School Psychology International, 24(2), 147-165.
60.
Lund, R., Nielsen, K., Hansen, D., Molbo, D., Christensen, U., Due, P., et al. (2009). Exposure to bullying at school and depression in adulthood: A study of Danish men born in 1953. European Journal of Public Health, 19(1), 111-116.
61.
Malcolm, K., Jensen-Campbell, L., Rex-Lear, M., & Waldrip, A. ( 2006). Divided we fall: Children’s friendships and peer victimization. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships , 23(5), 721-740.
62.
Marcus, R., & Swett, B. ( 2002). Violence and intimacy in close relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17(5), 570-586.
63.
Matud, M. ( 2007). Dating violence and domestic violence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(4), 295-297.
64.
McGuckin, C., Cummins, P., & Lewis, C. ( 2008). Bully/victim problems in Northern Ireland’s schools: Data from the 2000 ‘Young Persons’ Behavior and Attitude Survey’ . Individual Differences Research, 6(4), 280-288.
65.
Mishna, F., & Alaggia, R. ( 2005). Weighing the risks: A child’s decision to disclose peer victimization. Children & Schools, 27(4), 217-226.
66.
Mishna, F., Wiener, J., & Pepler, D. ( 2008). Some of my best friends-experiences of bullying within friendships. School Psychology International, 29(5), 549-573.
67.
Monks, C., & Smith, P. ( 2006). Definitions of bullying: Age differences in understanding of the term, and the role of experience. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24(4), 801-821.
68.
Mouttapa, M., Valente, T., Gallaher, P., Unger, J., & Rohrbach, L. ( 2004). Social network predictors of bullying and victimization . Adolescence, 39(154), 315-335.
69.
Mrug, S., Hoza, B., Gerdes, A., Hinshaw, S., Arnold, L., Hechtman, L., et al. (2009). Discriminating between children with ADHD and classmates using peer variables. Journal of Attention Disorders, 12(4), 372-380.
70.
Murray-Harvey, R., & Slee, P. ( 2010). School and home relationships and their impact on school bullying. School Psychology International, 31(3), 271-295.
71.
Nansel, T., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R., Ruan, W., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. ( 2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285(16), 2094-2100.
72.
Oh, I., & Hazler, R. ( 2009). Contributions of personal and situational factors to bystanders’ reactions to school bullying. School Psychology International, 30(3), 291-310.
73.
Olweus, D. ( 1997). Bully/victim problems in school: Facts and intervention . European Journal of Psychology of Education, 12(4), 495-510.
74.
Olweus, D. ( 1999). Norway. In P. K. Smith, Y. Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus , R. Catalano & P. Slee (Eds.), The nature of school bullying: A cross-national perspective (pp. 28-48). New York, NY: Routledge.
75.
Owens, L., Shute, R., & Slee, P. ( 2000). ‘Guess what I just heard!’: Indirect aggression among teenage girls in Australia. Aggressive Behavior, 26(1), 67-83.
76.
Parker, J.G., & Asher, S.R. ( 1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction . Developmental Psychology, 29, 611-621.
77.
Pellegrini, A., Dupuis, D., & Smith, P. ( 2007). Play in evolution and development. Developmental Review, 27(2), 261-276.
78.
Perren, S., & Alsaker, F. ( 2006). Social behavior and peer relationships of victims, bully-victims, and bullies in kindergarten. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47(1), 45-57.
79.
Poulin, F., Cillessen, A.H.N., Hubbard, J.A., Coie, J.D., Dodge, K.A., & Schwartz, D. ( 1997). Children’s friends and behavioral similarity in two social contexts. Social Development, 6, 224-236.
80.
Ranta, K., Kaltiala-Heino, R., Pelkonen, M., & Marttunen, M. ( 2009). Associations between peer victimization, self-reported depression and social phobia among adolescents: The role of comorbidity. Journal of Adolescence, 32(1), 77-93.
81.
Rigby, K. ( 2005). Why do some children bully at school? The contributions of negative attitudes towards victims and the perceived expectations of friends, parents and teachers. School Psychology International, 26(2), 147-161.
82.
Rios-Ellis, B., Bellamy, L., & Shoji, J. ( 2000). An examination of specific types of Ijime within Japanese schools. School Psychology International, 21(3), 227-241.
83.
Rodkin, P., & Berger, C. ( 2008). Who bullies whom? Social status asymmetries by victim gender. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(6), 473-485.
84.
Rønning, J., Sourander, A., Kumpulainen, K., Niemelä, S., Helenius, H., Almqvist, F., et al. (2009). Cross-informant agreement about bullying and victimization among eight-yearolds: Whose information best predicts psychiatric caseness 10-15 years later? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology , 44(1), 15-22.
85.
Salmivalli, C. ( 1999). Participant role approach to school bullying: Implications for interventions. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 453-459.
86.
Salmivalli, C., & Kaukiainen, A. (2004). ‘Female aggression’ revisited: Variable- and person-centered approaches to studying gender differences in different types of aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 30(2), 158-163.
87.
Salmivalli, C., & Voeten, M. ( 2004). Connections between attitudes, group norms, and behaviour in bullying situations. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28(3), 246-258.
88.
Santalahti, P., Sourander, A., Aromaa, M., Helenius, H., Ikäheimo, K., & Piha, J. ( 2008). Victimization and bullying among 8-year-old Finnish children: A 10-year comparison of rates. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 17(8), 463-472.
89.
Sawyer, A., Bradshaw, C., & O’Brennan, L. (2008). Examining ethnic, gender, and developmental differences in the way children report being a victim of ‘bullying’ on self-report measures. Journal of Adolescent Health, 43(2), 106-114.
90.
Schmidt, M., & Bagwell, C. ( 2007). The protective role of friendships in overtly and relationally victimized boys and girls. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 53(3), 439-460.
91.
Scholte, R., Overbeek, G., ten Brink, G., de Kemp, R., Engels, R., Goossens, L., et al. (2009). The significance of reciprocal and unilateral friendships for peer victimization in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(1), 89-100.
92.
Schuster, B. ( 2007). The school class as a unit for prevalence estimations: Methodological variations, conceptual clarifications, and implications for intervention and theory testing. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4(4), 405-414.
93.
Schwartz, D. ( 2000). Subtypes of victims and aggressors in children’s peer groups. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 181-192.
94.
Schwartz, D., Dodge, K., Pettit, G., & Bates, J. ( 2000). Friendship as a moderating factor in the pathway between early harsh home environment and later victimization in the peer group. Developmental Psychology, 36(5), 646-662.
95.
Schwartz, D., Gorman, A., Dodge, K., Bates, J., & Pettit, G. ( 2008). Friendships with peers who are low or high in aggression as moderators of the link between peer victimization and declines in academic functioning. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(5), 719-730.
96.
Shin, Y. ( 2010). Psychosocial and friendship characteristics of bully/victim subgroups in Korean primary school children. School Psychology International, 31(4), 372-388.
97.
Shute, R., Owens, L., & Slee, P. ( 2008). Everyday victimization of adolescent girls by boys: Sexual harassment, bullying or aggression?Sex Roles, 58(7), 477-489.
98.
Simons, D., Wurtele, S., & Durham, R. ( 2008). Developmental experiences of child sexual abusers and rapists. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32(5), 549-560.
99.
Smith, P.K., & Monks, C.P. ( 2008). Concepts of bullying: Developmental and cultural aspects . International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health , 20(2), 101-112.
100.
Smith, P., Smees, R., & Pellegrini, A. (2004). Play fighting and real fighting: Using video playback methodology with young children. Aggressive Behavior, 30(2), 164-173.
101.
Smith, P., Talamelli, L., Cowie, H., Chauhan, P., & Naylor, P. ( 2004). Profiles of non-victims, escaped victims, continuing victims and new victims of school bullying. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(4), 565-581.
102.
Stein, J., Dukes, R., & Warren, J. ( 2007). Adolescent male bullies, victims, and bully-victims: A comparison of psychosocial and behavioral characteristics. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32(3), 273-282.
103.
Straka, S., & Montminy, L. ( 2008). Family violence: Through the lens of power and control . Journal of Emotional Abuse, 8(3), 255-279.
104.
Straus, M. ( 2008). Dominance and symmetry in partner violence by male and female university students in 32 nations. Children and Youth Services Review, 30(3), 252-275.
105.
Sutton, J. ( 2001). Bullies: Thugs or thinkers? The Psychologist , 14(10), 530-534.
106.
Sutton, J., Smith, P.K., & Swettenham, J. (1999). Social cognition and bullying: Social inadequacy or skilled manipulation? British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 17, 435-450.
107.
Swan, S., & Snow, D. ( 2003). Behavioral and psychological differences among abused women who use violence in intimate relationships. Violence Against Women, 9(1), 75-109.
108.
Sweetingham, R., & Waller, G. ( 2008). Childhood experiences of being bullied and teased in the eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review, 16(5), 401-407.
109.
Thompson, R., Bonomi, A., Anderson, M., Dimer, J., Rivara, F., Carrell, D., et al. (2006). Intimate partner violence: Prevalence, types, and chronicity in adult women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(6), 447-457.
110.
Toblin, R., Schwartz, D., Gorman, A., & Abou-ezzeddine, T. (2005). Social-cognitive and behavioral attributes of aggressive victims of bullying. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26(3), 329-346.
111.
Vaillancourt, T., McDougall, P., Hymel, S., Miller, J., Davis, C., Stiver, K., et al. (2008). Bullying: Are researchers and children/youth talking about the same thing? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(6), 486-495.
112.
Von Marées, N., & Petermann, F. ( 2010). Bullying in German primary schools: Gender differences, age trends and influence of parents’ migration and educational backgrounds . School Psychology International, 31(2), 178-198.
113.
Waldrip, A., Malcolm, K., & Jensen-Campbell, L. (2008). With a little help from your friends: The importance of high-quality friendships on early adolescent adjustment. Social Development, 17(4), 832-852.
114.
Wei, H., & Chen, J. ( 2009). Social withdrawal, peer rejection, and peer victimization in Taiwanese middle school students. Journal of School Violence , 8(1), 18-28.
115.
Wei, H., Jonson-Reid, M., & Tsao, H. ( 2007). Bullying and victimization among Taiwanese 7th graders: A multi-method assessment. School Psychology International , 28(4), 479-500.
116.
Wood, J. ( 2001). The normalization of violence in heterosexual romantic relationships: Women’s narratives of love and violence. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18(2), 239-261.
117.
Yang, S., Kim, J., Kim, S., Shin, I., & Yoon, J. ( 2006). Bullying and victimization behaviors in boys and girls at South Korean primary schools. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(1), 69-77.
