Longitudinal Relations between Peer Victimization, Emotion Dysregulation, and Internalizing Symptoms among Early Adolescents

The current study examined longitudinal relations between overt and relational victimization, sadness and anger dysregulation, and depressive and anxiety symptoms across 6 months among an ethnically diverse sample of sixth graders (N = 485; 48% male; 65% African American). No direct longitudinal relations were found between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms or between internalizing symptoms and peer victimization, and these findings were consistent across gender and disability status. The relation between overt victimization and subsequent increases in relational victimization was stronger for youth with versus without high incidence disabilities. Significant indirect effects were found for overt victimization on both depressive and anxiety symptoms via sadness dysregulation. The strength of the indirect effects did not differ by gender. Findings highlight the merits of school-based violence prevention programs that address emotional management and are embedded within multi-tiered school environment interventions.