Citation

Ma TL, Chen WT. J. School Violence 2019; 18(1): 77-91.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15388220.2017.1387132

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Despite a wealth of knowledge for factors predicting adolescent defending behaviors, it remains unknown about victims' adjustment resulting from experiencing the presence of different bystander roles in a victimization episode. This study analyzed 209 Taiwanese adolescents' reports of school-based peer victimization, perceived bystander actions in the event, and the victims' emotional responses (e.g., happy, sad), emotional status following the episode (e.g., feeling better, worse), and psychosocial maladjustment (i.e., depression, loneliness, anxiety). Our results showed that bystander participant roles varied by victimization types and that defended victims adjusted better than nondefended victims both emotionally and psychologically. Moreover, adolescent victims who reported the presence of an outsider during the victimization experienced more complex and negative emotional responses than victims who reported the presence reinforcer or assistant of the bully. Implications for interventions and prevention are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

Bystanders; emotional responses; participant roles; peer victimization; psychological adjustment