Identifying factors that influence peer aggression and victimization is important because of their high prevalence rates and associated negative outcomes during early adolescence. Limited research has examined the impact of environmental and contextual factors, such as school climate, on peer aggression and victimization. This study longitudinally examined bidirectional relations between school climate and peer aggression and between school climate and victimization over 6 months. Participants were 265 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students (50% female; 82% African American). Bidirectional path regression analyses showed that students who reported higher levels of positive student-teacher relationships at Time 1 engaged in lower frequencies of aggression and experienced less victimization at Time 2. Students who reported higher levels of awareness and reporting of violence at Time 1 had more positive student-teacher relationships and engaged in lower frequencies of aggression at Time 2.
AcevesM. J.HinshawS. P.Mendoza-DentonR.Page-GouldE. (2010). Seek help from teachers or fight back? Student perceptions of teachers’ actions during conflicts and response to peer victimization. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 658-669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-009-9441-9
2.
AjzenI.MaddenT. J. (1986). Prediction of goal-directed behavior: Attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 22, 453-474. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(86)90045-4
3.
BanduraA. (1977). Social learning theory. Oxford, UK: Prentice-hall.
4.
BergerC.RodkinP. C. (2012). Group influences on individual aggression and prosociality: Early adolescents who change peer affiliations. Social Development, 21, 396-413. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2011.00628.x
5.
BizumicB.ReynoldsK.TurnerJ.BromheadD.SubasicE. (2009). The role of the group in individual functioning: School identification and the psychological well-being of staff and students. Applied Psychology, 58, 171-192. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00387.x
6.
BronfenbrennerU.KieslerC. A. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513-531.
7.
CardN. A.HodgesE. V. E. (2008). Peer victimization among schoolchildren: Correlations, causes, consequences, and considerations in assessment and intervention. School Psychology Quarterly, 23, 451-461. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012769
Committee for Children. (2008). Second Step: Student success through prevention program. Seattle, WA: Committee for Children.
10.
CornellD.ShuklaK.KonoldT. (2015). Peer victimization and authoritative school climate: A multilevel approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107, 1186-1201. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000038
11.
DemarayM. K.MaleckiC. K. (2003). Perceptions of the frequency and importance of social support by students classified as victims, bullies, and bully/victims in an urban middle school. School Psychology Review, 32, 471-489.
12.
ElsaesserC.Gorman-SmithD.HenryD. (2013). The role of the school environment in relational aggression and victimization. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 235-249. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9839-7
13.
EspelageD. L. (2014). Ecological theory: Preventing youth bullying, aggression, and victimization. Theory into Practice, 53, 257-264. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2014.947216
14.
FarrellA.GoncyE.SullivanT.ThompsonE. (2018). Evaluation of the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale—Teacher report form for assessing behavior in a sample of urban adolescents. Psychological Assessment, 30, 1277-1291. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000571
15.
FarrellA.SullivanT.GoncyE.LeA. (2016). Assessment of adolescents’ victimization, aggression, and problem behaviors: Evaluation of the problem behavior frequency scale. Psychological Assessment, 28, 702-714. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000225
16.
FarrellA. D.SullivanT. N.KliewerW.AllisonK. W.ErwinE. H.MeyerA. L.EspositoL. (2006). Peer and school problems in the lives of urban adolescents: Frequency, difficulty, and relation to adjustment. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 169-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.02.001
17.
FurlongM. J.ChangA.BatesM.MorrisonR. L. (1995). Who are the victims of school violence? A comparison of student non-victims and multi-victims. Education and Treatment of Children, 18, 282-298.
18.
GeorgeD. (2010). SPSS for windows step by step: A simple guide and reference, 17.0 update (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
19.
HenryD. B.FarrellA. D.SchoenyM. E.TolanP. H.DymnickiA. B. (2011). Influence of school-level variables on aggression and associated attitudes of middle school students. Journal of School Psychology, 49, 481-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2011.04.007
20.
HuL. T.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
21.
LeadbeaterB.SukhawathanakulP.SmithD.BowenF. (2015). Reciprocal associations between interpersonal and values dimensions of school climate and peer victimization in elementary school children. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 44, 480-493. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2013.873985
22.
LeeP.BiermanK. L. (2018). Longitudinal trends and year-to-year fluctuations in student–teacher conflict and closeness: Associations with aggressive behavior problems. Journal of School Psychology, 70, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.06.002
23.
LoukasA.PaschK. (2013). Does school connectedness buffer the impact of peer victimization on early adolescents’ subsequent adjustment problems?The Journal of Early Adolescence, 33, 245-266. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431611435117
24.
MarcusR. (2007). Aggression and violence in adolescence. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
25.
MuthénL.MuthénB. (2013). Mplus 7.11. Los Angeles, CA: Author.
26.
NanselT. R.HaynieD. L.Simons-MortonB. G. (2003). The association between bullying and victimization with middle school adjustment. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 19, 45-61. https://doi.org/10.1300/J008v19n02_04
27.
NickersonA. B.SingletonD.SchnurrB.CollenM. H. (2014). Perceptions of school climate as a function of bullying involvement. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 30, 157-181. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377903.2014.888530
28.
OlweusD.LimberS.MihalicS. (1999). Blueprints for violence prevention: Vol. 9. The Bullying Prevention Program. Boulder: Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado.
29.
ReddyR.RhodesJ. E.MulhallP. (2003). The influence of teacher support on student adjustment in the middle school years: A latent growth curve study. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 119-138. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579403000075
30.
ReijntjesA.KamphuisJ. H.PrinzieP.TelchM. J. (2010). Peer victimization and internalizing problems in children: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 34, 244-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2009.07.009
31.
RoeserR. W.EcclesJ. S. (1998). Adolescents’ perceptions of middle school: Relation to longitudinal changes in academic and psychological adjustment. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 8, 123-158. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327795jra0801_6
32.
SameroffA. J. (1983). Developmental systems: Contexts and evolution. In MussenP. H. (Gen. Ed.) & KessenW. (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 1. History, theory, and methods (4th ed., pp. 237-294). New York, NY: John Wiley.
33.
SameroffA. J.MackenzieM. J. (2003). Research strategies for capturing transactional models of development: The limits of the possible. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 613-640.
34.
SteigerJ. (2007). Understanding the limitations of global fit assessment in structural equation modeling. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 893-898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.09.017
35.
SutherlandK. S.OswaldD. P. (2005). The relationship between teacher and student behavior in classrooms for students with emotional and behavioral disorders: Transactional processes. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-005-1106z
36.
TurnerI.ReynoldsK.LeeE.SubasicE.BromheadD. (2014). Well-being, school climate, and the social identity process: A latent growth model study of bullying perpetration and peer victimization. School Psychology Quarterly, 29, 320-335. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq000007
37.
ValoisR. F.MacDonaldJ. M.BretousL.FischerM. A.DraneJ. W. (2002). Risk factors and behaviors associated with adolescent violence and aggression. American Journal of Health Behavior, 26, 454-464. https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.26.6.6
38.
VesselsG. (1998). Character and community development: A school planning and teacher training handbook. Westport, CT: Praeger.
39.
ViscontiK. J.SechlerC. M.Kochenderfer-LaddB. (2013). Coping with peer victimization: The role of children’s attributions. School Psychology Quarterly, 28, 122-140. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000014
40.
WilsonD. (2004). The interface of school climate and school connectedness and relationships with aggression and victimization. Journal of School Health, 74, 293-299. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2004.tb08286.x
41.
YablonY. (2010). Student–teacher relationships and students’ willingness to seek help for school violence. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27, 1110-1123. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407510381255
42.
Zimmer-GembeckM. J.NesdaleD.McGregorL.MastroS.GoodwinB.DowneyG. (2013). Comparing reports of peer rejection: Associations with rejection sensitivity, victimization, aggression, and friendship. Journal of Adolescence, 36, 1237-1246.
43.
ZimmermanG.MessnerS. (2013). Individual, family background, and contextual explanations of racial and ethnic disparities in youths’ exposure to violence. American Journal of Public Health, 103, 435-442. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300931
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
