The first aim of the present study was to investigate whether peer victimization mediates the relation between bullying behavior and depression. The second aim was to test whether personal identity mediates the relation between peer victimization and depression. The third aim was to assess the relative importance of family characteristics on all variables included in both mediation models. It was hypothesized that family characteristics were related to all the variables in the model. The results of this study support both mediation models and the hypothesized influence of family characteristics.
Bullying Behavior, Peer Victimization, and Depressive Symptoms
In this study, continuous measures were used to assess bullying behavior and peer victimization, which allowed for the analysis of the mediating effect of peer victimization at all levels of peer victimization. The results showed that the relation between bullying behavior and depressive symptoms was mediated by peer victimization. This indicates that the depressive symptoms of those who display bullying behavior stems from the extent to which they are simultaneously victimized by peers. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that bullying behavior is not, in itself, related to depressive symptoms.
The results of this study are consistent with the results of several previous studies. For instance, it is in line with findings that also failed to find a connection between bullying behavior and depressive symptoms (e.g., Juvonen et al.
2003; Solberg and Olweus
2003). It is also consistent with studies that found the association between bullying and depressive symptoms disappeared when controlled for being bullied (Van der Wal et al.
2003). Furthermore, there are studies using a bully/victim category that also found no relation between bullying and depressive symptoms (e.g., Fekkes et al.
2004).
Research using bully, victim, or bully/victim categories generally failed to control for all levels of peer victimization. Bully, victim, and bully/victim categorizations are often based on high levels of bullying behavior or/and high levels of peer victimization. It is possible that the modest relation between bullying and depressive symptoms reported in some of these studies would not have appeared had this relationship been corrected for all levels of peer victimization.
Peer Victimization, Personal Identity, and Depressive Symptoms
The results of the present study demonstrated the mediating function of personal identity for the relation between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. Although this mediation effect of personal identity was only partial, it still was statistically significant and substantial in terms of effect size. The indirect effect of peer victimization explained a larger amount of variance of depressive symptoms than the direct effect of peer victimization. This indicates that the contribution of peer victimization to the vulnerability for depressive symptoms is primarily based on its effects on the adolescent’s identity. Adolescents who are victimized by peers have more trouble integrating their school, home, and leisure time identities into one coherent profile. This, in turn, makes them vulnerable for developing depressive symptoms.
The Importance of Family Characteristics
Family characteristics were related to all the variables of the model. The more family cohesion and affective involvement adolescents reported, the less they reported bullying behavior and peer victimization, and the more they displayed an integrated personal identity. In addition to the mediating functions of peer victimization, bullying behavior, and personal identity, the results also demonstrated the direct effect of family characteristics on depressive symptoms. We will now discuss the relation of family characteristics to each of the other constructs in our tested model.
In this study, family characteristics were related to bullying behavior in adolescents. The more adolescents reported family cohesion and family affect, the less they reported bullying behavior. This result is in line with similar results found in research with children (e.g., Berdondini and Smith
1996; Bowers et al.
1992; Stevens et al.
2002) despite the fact that the studies with children usually employ categorical measures of bullying behavior instead of the continuous measures used in this research.
This study also confirmed that the more adolescents reported emotional bonds between family members and the more they perceived family cohesion, the less they reported being a victim of bullying. These results thus support the conclusion that, in adolescence, family characteristics function as a protecting influence against peer victimization. Additionally, these results argue against the idea proffered in previous studies that high levels of family cohesion are indicative of over-protectiveness (e.g., Rigbee et al.
1999).
This study was the first to investigate the relationship between family environment and personal identity as a sense of temporal–spatial continuity. The positive relation between family environment and identity formation reported in studies using other measures of identity (e.g., Matheis and Adams
2004) was also found in the present study. The result indicates that family cohesion and family affect support the adolescent temporal–spatial continuity of identity.
It was remarkable that family characteristics, apart from their indirect effects, still showed a direct relation with depressive symptoms. The more supportive their family characteristics, the less adolescents reported depressive symptoms. The direct effect of family characteristics on adolescent depressive symptoms was larger than its indirect effect. This result either indicates the importance of family characteristics for adolescent depression or it demonstrates the need for studying additional mediating factors. This point will be returned to in our discussion of the limitations of our study.
This Study’s Model of Depressive Symptoms
Zero-order correlations of depressive symptoms with family characteristics, personal identity, and peer victimization showed comparably moderate to strong associations. Yet, when the relations were studied simultaneously, family characteristics and personal identity appeared most strongly associated with depressive symptoms. This study indicates that the effect of peer victimization on adolescent psychological health for a substantial part is explained by its effect on personal identity. Personal identity thus played a crucial role in the study on the consequences of peer victimization and bullying behavior. Half of the variance in the reported depressive symptoms was explained by the model. The indirect effects of peer victimization and bullying behavior on depressive symptoms were larger than their direct effects, which underlines the mediating role of peer victimization and personal identity. Moreover, one third of the correlation between family factors and depressive symptoms was explained by the mediation of peer victimization and personal identity. The model was thus able to capture important processes concerning the dynamics of the relationship between family characteristics and depressive symptoms in adolescents.
Limitations of the Study
In the present study, adolescents’ family characteristics, bullying behavior and victimization by peers, personal identity and depressive symptoms were all self-reported. The mono-informant character of the study could have positively influenced the moderate to strong relations between the constructs. Depressive symptoms could, for instance, bias the description of family characteristics and of victimization by peers. However, it is unlikely that the results are solely attributable to shared method variance, for the following three reasons.
The first reason has been presented by Hawker and Boulton (
2000). They demonstrated that the mean effect sizes of the relation between peer victimization and depression was larger for studies with shared method variance than for studies without shared method variance. Still, their analyses showed that research that avoided shared method variance by using peer reports to study peer victimization also found a systematic relation between peer victimization and depression.
The second reason consists of two arguments in favor of valuing the perceived reports of adolescents in respect to family functioning more than the reports of parents. Firstly, adolescents’ reports have more agreement with reports of outsiders than with reports of parents. Secondly, the effect of the subjective experience of family influences on adolescent development is stronger than the effect of parental reports on family functioning (e.g., Hale et al.
2007).
The third reason to diminish the importance of the possible effects of shared method variance was presented in the study by Magaro and Weisz (
2006). They demonstrated that the experience of depression in children and adolescents did not taint their report of parental behaviors. The results of their study argue against the suggestion of spurious correlations between depressive symptoms and all forms of perceived parenting.
The present study confined the study of family functioning to the concepts of family cohesion and family affect. There are other family characteristics that have been studied in relation to bullying and peer victimization. For instance, empirical studies have shown that family violence, such as physical abuse, parental maltreatment, and witnessing parental violence, are related to bullying behavior and peer victimization (e.g., Baldry
2003; Shields and Cicchetti
2001). Future studies could include the influence of these and other family characteristics.
The full model in this study explained half of the variance in depressive symptoms. Inherent to a mediation model is that it cannot include all processes and constructs that explain vulnerability for depressive symptoms. Future studies might focus on other mediators in relation to peer victimization or family characteristics and depressive symptoms. In addition, moderating influences on the model were not tested in this study as the sample size did not allow for multi-group structural equation modeling. Future studies using larger sample sizes could address possible age or gender differences.
In the present study, the two mediation models and the relative influence of family characteristics were assessed at the same point in time. On the conceptual level, the first mediation model might accurately be tested in a cross-sectional design. However, a longitudinal design of the first mediation model could add knowledge on the origin of the relation between bullying and victimization. It might for instance show how and when those victimized by peers start to show bullying behavior, and vice versa.
However, the second mediation model is best tested in a longitudinal design. Such a design makes it possible to examine the long-term effects of peer victimization on identity, or of a diminished personal continuity of identity on depressive symptoms. In addition, alternative explanations in terms of other directions between the variables tested in the second mediation model can be verified or falsified in a longitudinal design. In sum, a longitudinal design has the potential to determine whether depressive symptoms are a consequence, a predictor, or both consequence and predictor of personal identity.