Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine whether the tendency to derive self-referent attributions would mediate the linkage between self- and peer-reported relational victimization and internalizing symptoms. Two hypotheses guided this investigation. First, the tendency to derive self-referent attributions was hypothesized to influence the association between relational victimization and self-reports of internalizing symptoms, including symptoms of depression, loneliness and anxiety. Gender was anticipated to moderate the results between relational victimization and internalizing symptoms in that the model was predicted to be supported for females but not males. Ethnicity was not hypothesized to moderate the results. Participants were 273 fifth and sixth grade (111 male subjects, 162 female subjects) (127 European-American, 146 Latino/a) public elementary and middle school students from two rural communities in Nebraska. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships among the proposed variables. Findings do not support the hypothesis that the tendency to derive self-referent attributions mediates the linkage between relational victimization and internalizing symptoms. However, the model did suggest that relational victimization accounted for approximately 58.1% of the variance in youth’s internalizing symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Furthermore, neither gender nor ethnic differences were found between the proposed mediation models. The discussion focuses on implications of the study’s findings, factors that may have impacted the results, and future research directions on peer relationships among youth.
