Previous research has demonstrated a strong link between peer victimization and suicidal ideation and aggression. This study examined interpersonal rejection sensitivity as a mediator of these associations.
Method:
Diagnostic interviews and assessments were administered to 80 psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and their parents.
Results:
Interpersonal rejection sensitivity mediated the association between peer victimization and suicidal ideation as well as aggression after controlling for participant sex and mood disorder diagnosis.
Conclusion:
Interpersonal rejection sensitivity influences the relation between peer victimization and mental health symptoms, including suicidal ideation and aggression. Assessing for and addressing heightened interpersonal rejection sensitivity among adolescents who have been victimized by peers may decrease the likelihood of negative mental health outcomes. Implications, especially for clinicians, are further discussed.
AyalaL. M.WangJ.AndersonS.BrevardA.RuizM.BannermanR.. . . HindsP. (2015). Implementing a community bullying awareness intervention in an adolescent psychiatric unit: A feasibility study. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 29, 426–433. doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2015.06.011
2.
AydukO.DowneyG.KimM. (2001). Rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms in women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 868−877.
3.
AydukO.GyurakA.LuerssenA. (2008). Individual differences in the rejection-aggression link in the hot sauce paradigm: The case of rejection sensitivity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 775–782. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2007.07.004
4.
BiggsB. K.VernbergE.LittleT. D.DillE. J.FonagyP.TwemlowS. W. (2010). Peer victimization trajectories and their association with children’s affect in late elementary school. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34, 136–146. doi:10.1177/0165025409348560
5.
BonannoR. A.HymelS. (2010). Beyond hurt feelings: Investigating why some victims of bullying are at greater risk for suicidal ideation. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 56, 420–444.
6.
BoyceP.ParkerG. (1989). Development of a scale to measure interpersonal sensitivity. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 23, 341–351.
7.
BreinesJ. G.AydukO. (2015). Rejection sensitivity and vulnerability to self-directed hostile cognitions following rejection. Journal of Personality, 83, 1–13. doi:10.1111/jopy.12077
8.
BussA. H.WarrenW. L. (2000). The aggression questionnaire manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
9.
ButlerJ. C.DohertyM. S.PotterR. M. (2007). Social antecedents and consequences of interpersonal rejection sensitivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1376–1385. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.04.006
10.
CamodecaM.GoossensF. A. (2005). Aggression, social cognitions, anger and sadness in bullies and victims. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 186–197. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00347.x
11.
CampbellA. (2007). Sex differences in aggression. In DunbarR. I. M.BarrettL. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 365–382). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
12.
CantwellD. P.LewinsohnP. M.RohdeP.SeeleyJ. R. (1997). Correspondence between adolescent report and parent report of psychiatric diagnostic data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 610–619.
13.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2013. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 63(4), 1–168.
14.
ChangoJ. M.McElhaneyK. B.AllenJ. P.SchadM. M.MarstonE. (2012). Relational stressors and depressive symptoms in late adolescence: Rejection sensitivity as a vulnerability. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 369–379. doi:10.1007/s10802-011-9570-y
15.
CillessenA. H.LansuT. A. (2015). Stability, correlates, and time-covarying associations of peer victimization from grade 4 to 12. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 44, 456–470. doi:10.1080/15374416.2014.958841
16.
DaviesM.CunninghamG. (1999). Adolescent parasuicide in the Foyle area. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 16, 9–12. doi:10.1017/S079096670000495X
17.
De Los ReyesA.PrinsteinM. J. (2004). Applying depression-distortion hypotheses to the assessment of peer victimization in adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 325–335. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3302_14
18.
DowneyG.FeldmanS. I. (1996). Implications of rejection sensitivity for intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1327–1343.
19.
DowneyG.LeboltA.RincónC.FreitasA. L. (1998). Rejection sensitivity and children’s interpersonal difficulties. Child Development, 69, 1074–1091.
20.
DyerK.TeggartT. (2007). Bullying experiences of child and adolescent mental health service-users: A pilot survey. Child Care in Practice, 13, 351–365. doi:10.1080/13575270701488733
21.
EspelageD. L.HoltM. K. (2012). Suicidal ideation and school bullying experiences after controlling for depression and delinquency. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53(1 Suppl.), S27–S31. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.09.017
22.
GeorgiouS.StravrinidesP. (2008). Bullies, victims, and bully-victims: Psychosocial profiles and attributional styles. School Psychology International, 29, 574–589. doi:10.1177/0143034308099202
23.
GilbertP.IronsC.OlsenK.GilbertJ.McEwanK. (2006). Interpersonal sensitivities: Their links to mood, anger and gender. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 79, 37–51. doi:10.1348/147608305X43856
24.
GilbertP.MilesJ. N. V. (2000). Sensitivity to social put-down: Its relationship to perceptions of social rank, shame, social anxiety, depression, anger and self-other blame. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 757–774. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00230-5
25.
GouldM. S.KingR.GreenwaldS.FisherP.Schwab-StoneM.KramerR.. . . ShafferD. (1998). Psychopathology associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among children and adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 915–923. doi:10.1097/00004583-199809000-00011
26.
HanishL. D.GuerraN. G. (2002). A longitudinal analysis of patterns of adjustment following peer victimization. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 69–89.
27.
HarbG. C.HeimbergR. G.FrescoD. M.SchneierF. R.LiebowitzM. R. (2002). The psychometric properties of the interpersonal sensitivity measure in social anxiety disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 961–979. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00125-5
28.
HawkerD. S. J.BoultonM. 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. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00629
29.
HawtonK. (2000). Sex and suicide gender differences in suicidal behaviour. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 484–485. doi:10.1192/bjp.177.6.484
30.
HawtonK.FaggJ.SimkinS. (1996). Deliberate self-poisoning and self-injury in children and adolescents under 16 years of age in Oxford, 1976–1993. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 202–208. doi:10.1192/bjp.169.2.202
31.
HayesA. F. (2013). Appendix A: Using PROCESS. In HayesA. F. (Ed.), Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (pp. 419–456). New York, NY: Guilford.
32.
HaynieD. L.NanselT.EitelP.CrumpA. D.SaylorK.YuK.Simons-MortonB. (2001). Bullies, victims, and bully/victims: Distinct groups of at-risk youth. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 21, 29–49. doi:10.1177/0272431601021001002
33.
HeilbronN.PrinsteinM. J. (2010). Adolescent peer victimization, peer status, suicidal ideation, and nonsuicidal self-injury: Examining concurrent and longitudinal associations. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 56, 388–419. doi:10.1353/mpq.0.0049
34.
JoinerT. (2005). Why people die by suicide. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
35.
KaminskiJ. W.FangX. (2009). Victimization by peers and adolescent suicide in three US samples. The Journal of Pediatrics, 155, 683–688. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.04.061
36.
KaufmanA. S.KaufmanN. L. (1990). Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test Manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
37.
KaufmanJ.BirmaherB.BrentD.RaoU.FlynnC.MoreciP.. . . RyanN. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children–present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980–988.
38.
KendellR. E. (1970). Relationship between aggression and depression: Epidemiological implications of a hypothesis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 22, 308–318. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1970.01740280020005
39.
KimY. S.LeventhalB. (2008). Bullying and suicide: A review. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 20, 133–154. doi:10.1515/IJAMH.2008.20.2.133
40.
KleinD. N.OuimetteP. C.KellyH. S.FerroT.RisoL. P. (1994). Test-retest reliability of team consensus best-estimate diagnoses of Axis I and II disorders in a family study. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1043–1047.
41.
KlomekA. B.MarroccoF.KleinmanM.SchonfeldI. S.GouldM. S. (2007). Bullying, depression, and suicidality in adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 40–49. doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000242237.84925.18
42.
KlomekA. B.MarroccoF.KleinmanM.SchonfeldI. S.GouldM. S. (2008). Peer victimization, depression, and suicidality in adolescents. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 38, 166–180. doi:10.1521/suli.2008.38.2.166
43.
KlomekA. B.SouranderA.NiemeläS.KumpulainenK.PihaJ.TamminenT.. . . GouldM. S. (2009). Childhood bullying behaviors as a risk for suicide attempts and completed suicides: a population-based birth cohort study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 48, 254–261. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.122
44.
LevyS.AydukO.DowneyG. (2001). The role of rejection sensitivity in people’s relationships with significant others and valued social groups. In LearyM. (Ed.), Interpersonal rejection (pp. 281–289). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
45.
LondonB.DowneyG.BonicaC.PaltinI. (2007). Social causes and consequences of rejection sensitivity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 481–506. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2007.00531.x
46.
LuukkonenA.-H.RialaK.HakkoH.RäsänenP. (2010). Bullying behaviour and criminality: A population-based follow-up study of adolescent psychiatric inpatients in Northern Finland. Forensic Science International, 207, 106–110. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.09.012
47.
MacKinnonD. P. (2008). Computer intensive methods for mediation models. In MacKinnonD. P. (Ed.), Introduction to statistical mediation analysis (pp. 325–346). New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum.
48.
MaxwellS. E.ColeD. A. (2007). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods, 12, 23–44. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.23
49.
MaxwellS. E.ColeD. A.MitchellM. A. (2011). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation: Partial and complete mediation under an autoregressive model. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 46, 816–841. doi:10.1080/00273171.2011.606716
50.
McCabeR. E.BlanksteinK. R.MillsJ. S. (1999). Interpersonal sensitivity and social problem-solving: Relations with academic and social self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and academic performance. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 23, 587–604. doi:10.1023/A:1018732707476
51.
McDonaldK. L.BowkerJ. C.RubinK. H.LaursenB.DucheneM. S. (2010). Interactions between rejection sensitivity and supportive relationships in the prediction of adolescents’ internalizing difficulties. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 563–574. doi:10.1007/s10964-010-9519-4
52.
McDougallP.VaillancourtT. (2015). Long-term adult outcomes of peer victimization in childhood and adolescence: Pathways to adjustment and maladjustment. American Psychologist, 70, 300–310. doi:10.1037/a0039174
53.
NanselT. R.OverpeckM.PillaR. S.RuanW. J.Simons-MortonB.ScheidtP. (2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, 2094–2100. doi:10.1001/jama.285.16.2094
54.
OlweusD. (1994). Annotation: bullying at school: Basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 1171–1190.
55.
OstrovJ. M. (2010). Prospective associations between peer victimization and aggression. Child Development, 81, 1670–1677. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01501.x
56.
PreacherK. J.HayesA. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 36, 717–731. doi:10.3758/BF03206553
57.
PreacherK. J.HayesA. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891. doi:10.3758/BRM.40.3.879
58.
PreacherK. J.KelleyK. (2011). Effect size measures for mediation models: quantitative strategies for communicating indirect effects. Psychological Methods, 16, 93–115. doi:10.1037/a0022658
59.
PrinsteinM. J.BoergersJ.SpiritoA.LittleT. D.GrapentineW. L. (2000). Peer functioning, family dysfunction, and psychological symptoms in a risk factor model for adolescent inpatients’ suicidal ideation severity. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29, 392–405. doi:10.1207/S15374424JCCP2903_10
60.
PrinsteinM. J.BoergersJ.VernbergE. M. (2001). Overt and relational aggression in adolescents: Social-psychological adjustment of aggressors and victims. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 30, 479–491. doi:10.1207/S15374424JCCP3004_05
61.
ReijntjesA.KamphuisJ. H.PrinzieP.BoelenP. A.Van der SchootM.TelchM. J. (2011). Prospective linkages between peer victimization and externalizing problems in children: A meta-analysis. Aggressive Behavior, 37, 215–222. doi:10.1002/ab.20374
62.
ReijntjesA.KamphuisJ. H.PrinzieP.TelchM. J. (2010). Peer victimization and internalizing problems in children: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34, 244–252. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2009.07.009
RihmerZ. (2007). Suicide risk in mood disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 20, 17–22. doi:10.1097/YCO.0b013e3280106868
65.
SalmonG.JamesA.CassidyE. L.JavaloyesM. A. (2000). Bullying a review: Presentations to an adolescent psychiatric service and within a school for emotionally and behaviourally disturbed children. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 5, 563–579. doi:10.1177/1359104500005004010
66.
SandstromM. J.CillessenA. H. N.EisenhowerA. (2003). Children’s appraisal of peer rejection experiences: Impact on social and emotional adjustment. Review of Social Development, 12, 530–550. doi:10.1111/1467-9507.00247
67.
SchwartzD.McFadyen-KetchumS. A.DodgeK. A.PettitG. S.BatesJ. E. (1998). Peer group victimization as a predictor of children’s behavior problems at home and in school. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 87–99. doi:10.1017/S095457949800131X
68.
ShearM. L.DisabatoD.KaplanS.ViscontiK. J.McKnightP. E. (2015, March). Coping with peer victimization: A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of children’s responses. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
69.
SmokowskiP. R.EvansC. B. R.CotterK. L. (2014). The differential impacts of episodic, chronic, and cumulative physical bullying and cyberbullying: The effects of victimization on the school experiences, social support, and mental health of rural adolescents. Violence and Victims, 29, 1029–1046. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-13-00076
70.
SullivanT. N.FarrellA. D.KliewerW. (2006). Peer victimization in early adolescence: Association between physical and relational victimization and drug use, aggression, and delinquent behaviors among urban middle school students. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 119–137. doi:10.1017/S095457940606007X
71.
Van GeelM.VedderP.TanilonJ. (2014). Relationship between peer victimization, cyberbullying, and suicide in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 168, 435–442. doi:0.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.4143
72.
VeenstraR.LindenbergS.OldehinkelA. J.De WinterA. F.VerhulstF. C.OrmelJ. (2005). Bullying and victimization in elementary schools: A comparison of bullies, victims, bully/victims, and uninvolved preadolescents. Developmental Psychopathology, 41, 672–682. doi:0.1037/0012-1649.41.4.672
73.
VernbergE. M.JacobsA. K.HershbergerS. L. (1999). Peer victimization and attitudes about violence during early adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28, 386–395. doi:10.1207/S15374424jccp280311
74.
WangJ.McdonaldK. L.RubinK. H.LaursenB. (2012). Peer rejection as a social antecedent to rejection sensitivity in youth: The role of relational valuation. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 939–942. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2012.07.007
75.
WolffJ.Esposito-SmythersC.BeckerS.SeaboyerL.RizzoC.LichtensteinD.SpiritoA. (2014). Social-cognitive moderators of the relationship between peer victimization and suicidal ideation among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, 23(3), 268–285. doi:10.1080/10926771.2014.883458
76.
YeungR. S.LeadbeaterB. J. (2007). Does Hostile Attribution Bias for relational provocations mediate the short-term associations between relational victimization and aggression in preadolescence?Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36(8), 973–983. doi:10.1007/s10964-006-9162-2
77.
Zimmer-GembeckM. J.TrevaskisS.NesdaleD.DowneyG. A. (2014). Relational victimization, loneliness and depressive symptom: Indirect associations via self and peer reports of rejection sensitivity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(4), 568–582. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-9993-6
