Concurrent and longitudinal links between friendship and peer victimization: implications for befriending interventions

doi:10.1006/jado.1999.0240

Journal of Adolescence

Volume 22, Issue 4, August 1999, Pages 461-466

https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1999.0240 Get rights and content

Abstract

This short-term longitudinal study examined the associations between peer reports of victimization and self-reported friendship among early adolescents. It was carried out to test the view that friendship provides protection against victimization (called the “friendship protection hypothesis”). Data were collected at two points within a school year, separated by 6 months. At Time 1, 170 pupils provided data, and 158 of these did so again at Time 2. Three sets of findings were consistent with the friendship protection hypothesis. First, at Time 1 those early adolescents who had a reciprocated best friend in their home class received significantly fewer peer nominations for victimization than did classmates without a reciprocated best friend. Second, those early adolescents that did not have best friend at either Time 1 or Time 2 showed the highest increase in victimization over the course of the study, whereas those that did have a best friend at both Times 1 and 2 showed the highest falls in victimization. Third, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that a decrease in conflict and betrayal reported to characterize the participants' best friendship was associated with falls in victimization. The implications of these results for anti-bullying initiatives based on “befriending” principles were discussed.

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Citation Excerpt :
Our study suggests that having friends at school can directly affect the reported distress scores. Overall, this finding is coherent with the so-called ‘friendship protection hypothesis’, which found various proof (see, e.g., the longitudinal analyses in Boulton et al., 1999; Kendrick et al., 2012) that having the support of friends diminishes the chances of victimization. As for the school importance factor, this pattern supports both factual and perceptual explanations, as friends may provide both concrete defence and psychological adjustment when facing predicaments.
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^f1: Reprint requests and correspondence should be addressed to M. J. Boulton, Department of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, U.K.

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Regular ArticleConcurrent and longitudinal links between friendship and peer victimization: implications for befriending interventions

Abstract

Personality and Individual Differences

Do girls manipulate and boys fight? Developmental trends to regard to direct and indirect aggression

Aggressive Behavior

Bully/victim problems in middle-school children: stability, self-perceived competence, peer perceptions and peer acceptance

British Journal of Developmental Psychology

Friendship protects ‘at risk’ children from victimization from peers

Relational aggression, gender and social-psychological adjustment

Child Development

Peer Counselling in Schools: a time to listen

Regular Article
Concurrent and longitudinal links between friendship and peer victimization: implications for befriending interventions