Elsevier

Children and Youth Services Review

Volume 44, September 2014, Pages 25-32
Children and Youth Services Review

Parental school involvement as a moderator of the association between peer victimization and academic performance

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.05.014Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Peer victimization and parental involvement are linked to academic performance.

  • Relational is more strongly linked to academic performance than overt.

  • Parental school involvement buffers this link.

  • Parental involvement should be a target of intervention for victimized youth.

Abstract

A link between experiences of peer victimization and poor academic performance has been established. However, the specific links between overt and relational forms of victimization and academic performance are not well understood, and factors that may help to mitigate this association are not known. Accordingly, the present study examined parental school involvement as a moderator of the associations between peer victimization (both overt and relational) and academic performance using teacher reports on 704 elementary school-age youth (51% female) in kindergarten thru 5th grade. Results indicated that high levels of peer victimization, particularly relational victimization, were associated with lower levels of academic performance at both high and low levels of parental involvement for both boys and girls. However, the highest levels of academic performance were evident when parental involvement was high and levels of relational victimization were low, and the lowest levels of academic performance occurred when parental involvement was low and levels of relational victimization were high. Implications for findings are discussed.

Introduction

Researchers have shown that approximately 60% of elementary school-age children report being victimized by their peers (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Wardrop, 2001), with 10–20% of students reporting being severely or repeatedly victimized (Biggs et al., 2010, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012, Graham and Juvonen, 1998, Kochenderfer-Ladd and Wardrop, 2001, Nansel et al., 2001, Stadler et al., 2010). Students who are victimized are at-risk for a wide range of negative outcomes, including depression, loneliness, aggression, and anxiety (Hawker and Boulton, 2000, Hodges et al., 1999, Khatri et al., 2000, Reijntjes et al., 2010 Rueger, Malecki, & Demaray, 2011). Further, peer victimization is associated with poor academic performance, or how well one is able to complete scholarly demands and tasks in the school setting (e.g., Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2010). The impact of peer victimization on academic outcomes in elementary school is particularly concerning, as academic performance in elementary school is a critical marker of future educational and professional success (Alexander et al., 2002, Turney and Kao, 2009). However, not all children who are victimized by their peers experience these negative academic outcomes, and the magnitude of the association between peer victimization and academic performance varies substantially across studies (Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2010), suggesting that there may be mitigating factors contributing to these associations. Further research is needed to identify such factors so that effective interventions for victimized youth can be developed and implemented. High levels of parental school involvement have been found to be associated with high levels of academic performance (e.g., Domina, 2005, Englund et al., 2004, Lawson and Alameda-Lawson, 2012, Stewart, 2008, Turney and Kao, 2009), and parenting behavior has been found to buffer the deleterious effects of peer victimization on child outcomes (e.g., Davidson and Demaray, 2007, Stadler et al., 2010). It may be that high levels of parental school involvement can prevent victimized youth from experiencing negative academic outcomes. Accordingly, we evaluated parental school involvement as a moderator of the associations between forms of peer victimization and academic performance in a sample of elementary school-age youth and evaluated whether these effects were similar for across gender.

Peer victimization is broadly understood as experiencing hurtful or ostracizing behavior from peers, and these behaviors can be overt (e.g., hitting, kicking, verbal threats; Crick et al., 1999, Olweus, 2001), relational (e.g., spreading rumors, teasing, excluding; Crick & Grotpeter, 1996), or cyber (e.g., posting hurtful messages, photos, or videos online; Hinduja & Patchin, 2008) in nature. As stated above, peer victimization is associated with a host of poor adjustment outcomes (Hawker and Boulton, 2000, Hodges et al., 1999, Khatri et al., 2000, Reijntjes et al., 2010, Rueger et al., 2011), which likely result from experiencing psychological distress in response to the victimization (Juvonen et al., 2000, Schwartz et al., 2005). Most relevant to the current study, consistent associations between peer victimization and academic outcomes have been demonstrated in the literature, such that high levels of peer victimization are associated with lower academic performance, as assessed using GPA, achievement tests, and teacher- and self-reports of academic performance (Berthold and Hoover, 2000, Buhs and Ladd, 2001, Ladd et al., 1996, Olweus, 1978, Perry et al., 1988, Sutton et al., 1999). This association has been demonstrated across a wide range of school populations, from kindergarten (Ladd et al., 1996) through early high school (Juvonen et al., 2000). Effect sizes, however, are inconsistent across studies, with several studies reporting small-to-moderate associations (Card, Isaacs, & Hodges, 2007; see Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2010 for a meta-analytic review) and other studies noting large effect sizes (e.g., Schwartz, Chang, & Farver, 2001).

One factor likely contributing to differences in effects sizes is measurement differences in the assessment of academic outcomes and victimization across studies. With regard to peer victimization, most researchers have focused on overt victimization or a broad measure of peer victimization. Only two of the aforementioned studies evaluated and found a specific link between relational victimization and academic performance (Schwartz et al., 2005, Sutton et al., 1999). For example, Schwartz et al. (2005), in a sample of largely Hispanic and European American 8–10 year-olds (53% male), found predictive associations between both overt and relational victimization and GPA and math skills, using both teacher- and self-reports. Thus, researchers need to further examine associations between overt and relational victimization and academic performance is needed to explicate how and when victimized youth are most at-risk for academic difficulties.

These discrepancies in effect sizes are also likely due in part to other factors contributing to these associations. To our knowledge, however, very few researchers have examined potential moderators of these associations. For example, peer victimization may have differential impact across time in the school year. Ladd et al. (1996) found significant links between self-reported peer victimization and standardized test scores in a sample of mostly Caucasian (78%) kindergarteners (M = 5.5 years old; 53% male) when assessed during the spring, but not fall semester, indicating that this association may grow stronger over the course of the academic year. Gender differences in these associations have also been examined and findings have been mixed, with some studies revealing a greater effect of peer victimization on academic performance for girls (e.g., Hoglund, 2007, Rueger et al., 2011) and others reporting a greater effect among boys (e.g., Perry et al., 1988). Further, a meta-analysis of 16 studies investigating the link between peer victimization and academic performance found no significant differences in effect size for gender (Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2010). Accordingly, we examined gender differences in associations in the present study; however, no gender differences were expected given the results of the meta-analysis. Moreover, additional contextual factors (e.g., parenting) may mitigate the harmful effects of peer victimization on academic performance, and a better understanding of these factors is needed to inform prevention and intervention.

Parental involvement in children's educational environments is very important to their success and well-being at school (Walberg & Wallace, 1992), with researchers demonstrating that parental involvement predicts social and behavioral success at school (El Nokali et al., 2010, Yeung and Leadbeater, 2010). Of particular note, a growing body of evidence suggests that parental involvement in children's education predicts academic success in elementary school (Domina, 2005, Englund et al., 2004, Stewart, 2008). For example, Domina (2005), using a sample of over 1400 children in grades four and below from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, estimated time-lagged growth models to examine the effect of parental involvement on academic and behavioral indicators. Parental involvement, defined by attendance at parent–teacher conferences, involvement with homework, and volunteering at school, was associated with higher academic performance on achievement tests and with lower scores on the Behavior Problems Index. Further, Englund et al. (2004) found that parental involvement, as measured by teacher-reported perceptions of parents' interest and concern for their children's schoolwork and involvement in parent–teacher conferences, had a significant impact on academic performance in the 3rd grade among a sample of 187 elementary school students. Last, using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) on 11,999 students from 715 high schools, Stewart (2008) investigated the influence of school (e.g., proportion non-White, size, poverty level, location, and cohesion) and individual-level characteristics (e.g., school attachment, school motivation, school involvement, peer attachments, and parental school involvement) on academic performance. Parental involvement was only associated with higher grade point averages when including the degree to which students reported they engaged in discussions with their parents on academic issues (e.g., selecting courses at school) rather than by student-reported parental involvement in school meetings and volunteering.

Although parental school involvement has yet to be examined as a moderator of the association between experiences of victimization and poor academic performance, several investigations have demonstrated that other parenting variables may mitigate the harmful effects of peer victimization. Most researchers have focused on the protective role of perceived support from parents. For example, German adolescents' perceptions of parental support served as a buffer against the general mental health problems associated with self-reported peer victimization, especially for female students (Stadler et al., 2010). Similarly, another study of predominantly Caucasian adolescents revealed that students' ratings of emotional support from mothers (but not fathers) were protective against the behavioral and emotional problems associated with self-reported experiences of overt (but not relational) victimization (Yeung & Leadbeater, 2010). Whereas other researchers have failed to provide support for the buffering role of parental support in the relation between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms (Cheng et al., 2008, Papafratzeskakou et al., 2011), Davidson and Demaray (2007) demonstrated that adolescent-rated support from parents mitigated this association, specifically among females, in a sample of predominantly Caucasian middle school students.

Specific to parental school involvement, researchers have found that parental involvement can protect youth from the negative impact of various risk factors and stressors on their academic performance. Dearing, Kreider, Simpkins, and Weiss (2006) found that higher levels of mother-reported parental school involvement predicted improved child literacy, measured using a subscale from the Woodcock–Johnson Psycho-Education Battery — Revised, across the elementary school years in a low-income, predominantly African-American and Latino sample. Further, although an achievement gap existed according to maternal education level when levels of school involvement were low, this gap was no longer present when levels of mothers' school involvement were high. In addition, adolescent-reported parental involvement in school, in conjunction with high racial/ethnic socialization, protected African American and Latino adolescents' from the harmful effects of believing the public has low opinions of their racial/ethnic group on their self-reported academic motivation and performance (McGill, Hughes, Alicea, & Way, 2012). Given these findings and the consistently documented link between parental school involvement and higher levels of academic performance (see Fan & Chen, 2001), it follows that parental involvement may buffer the association between peer victimization and poor academic performance.

Although an association between peer victimization and poor academic performance has been established, unique associations between relational and overt victimization and academic performance are not yet clear. Further, little is known regarding what factors contribute to the link between peer victimization and poor academic performance, which may have many implications for developing targeted prevention and intervention strategies for victimized youth. We extended the peer victimization literature by examining parental school involvement as a moderator of the link between peer victimization (overall measure, overt, and relational) and poor academic performance. We examined these associations while also controlling for aggression, as aggressive behavior has been linked to poor academic performance (e.g., Fite et al., 2013, Masten et al., 2005). Both overt and relational victimization were expected to be associated with poor academic performance. Moreover, parental school involvement was expected to buffer these associations, such that peer victimization would be associated with worse academic performance when parental school involvement was low relative to when parental school involvement was high. Finally, we expected these associations to be similar for both males and females.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants in this study included teachers from an elementary school in a small, Midwestern town. Thirty-six out of 37 mainstream classroom teachers of the school participated in the study. Of these 36 participating teachers, all but one reported on all the students in their class, with each teacher reporting on between six and 23 students. The school is comprised of 739 kindergarten through 5th graders. A total of 706 student surveys were completed (i.e., data on 109 kindergarteners, 111

Data analysis plan

All analyses were conducted using an overall measure of peer victimization in addition to separate relational and overt forms of victimization in order to compare results with previous studies as well as advance the literature. Correlation analyses were first conducted in order to evaluate bivariate associations. Next, multiple regression models were estimated in order to examine unique effects of peer victimization and evaluate parental school involvement as a moderator of the link between

Descriptive statistics

Teachers reported that approximately 29% of the students had experienced some form of victimization, with 15.5% of students experiencing overt victimization and 20% experiencing relational victimization. Correlations, means, standard deviations, and ranges of scores for all study variables are reported in Table 1. Females and older students were associated with higher levels of academic performance than males and younger students. Further, high levels of parental school involvement and

Discussion

The current study advances the literature by further evaluating associations between overt and relational forms of peer victimization and academic performance and by examining parental school involvement as a moderator of these relations. This is one of only a handful of studies to examine forms of victimization and is one of the first studies to examine factors that might mitigate the negative impact of peer victimization on academic performance, which has direct implications for prevention

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