The bullying experiences of Korean-American adolescents (N = 295) were explored in relation to discrimination and mental health outcomes. Bullyingexperiences were assessed by the Bully Survey (Swearer, 2005), discrimination by the Perceived Ethnic and Racial Discrimination Scale (Way, 1997) and depression by the Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression Scale (CES-D). Those who reported being bullied (31.5%) as well as those who reported both being bullied and bullying others (15.9%) experienced a higher level of depression, which was elevated beyond the clinically significant level of CES-D. The results of a LISREL model suggest that the experiences of bullying among Korean/Asian-American adolescents and their related mental health issues need to be addressed in a comprehensive context of their discrimination experiences, acculturation, family and school environments.
Friendship as protection from peer victimization for girls with and without ADHD.
Cardoos SL, Hinshaw SP.
Source
Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Room 3210, Tolman Hall #1650, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. stephanie.cardoos@berkeley.edu
Abstract
The goal of this study was to examine the ability of friendship to moderate the association between behavioral risk and peer victimization for girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 140) and comparison girls (n = 88) in a 5-week naturalistic summer camp setting. Participants were an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse group of girls ages 6-12. Parents and teachers reported on pre-summer internalizing behavior, externalizing behavior, and social competence. Participants reported on friendships and peer victimization through a peer report measure at the summer camps; friendship was scored via mutual nominations. Pre-summer externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior, and low social competence predicted peer victimization at the summer camps. Friendship moderated the association between behavioral risk and victimization for the entire sample, such that the presence of at least one friend reduced the risk of victimization. Additional analyses suggested that girls with ADHD were no more or less protected by the presence of a friendship than were comparison girls. Finally, preliminary analyses suggested that girls having only friends with ADHD were not significantly less protected than girls with at least one comparison friend. Future directions and implications for intervention are discussed.
Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA. kfalb@hsph.harvard.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To assess the relationship between bullying peers as a child and adult intimate partner violence perpetration in a clinic-based sample of adult men. School bullying perpetration and intimate partner violence perpetration are both thought to stem from desire for power and control over others.
DESIGN:
A cross-sectional survey was conducted between January 2005 and December 2006.
Men aged 18 to 35 years (n = 1491) seeking services at participating community health centers.
MAIN EXPOSURE:
School bullying perpetration.
OUTCOME MEASURE:
Past-year physical or sexual violence perpetration against a female partner (intimate-partner violence [IPV]).
RESULTS:
Two-fifths of men reported perpetrating school bullying as a child (n = 610; 40.9%). Men who rarely bullied in school were 1.53 times more likely to perpetrate past-year IPV than men who did not bully (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-2.29); this risk was elevated to 3.82 times more likely to perpetrate any past-year IPV for those men who bullied peers frequently (95% CI, 2.55-5.73).
CONCLUSIONS:
The present study indicates that bullying peers in school as a child, especially frequent bullying perpetration, is associated with increased risk for men's perpetration of IPV as an adult. The effect remains strong after controlling for common prior risk factors for both bullying and IPV perpetration. Future research is needed to discern the mechanisms and underlying root causes of abusive behavior, such as power and control, as a means to prevent violence perpetration across settings and life stages.
Am Psychol. 2011 Oct;66(7):604-13. doi: 10.1037/a0024609.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual victimization in the military: an unintended consequence of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"?
Burks DJ.
Source
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Portland, OR 97239, USA. derekjburks@gmail.com
Abstract
The integration of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals into the U.S. military is a long-standing and politically and socially divisive issue. Exclusionary and pseudo-inclusionary policies that restrict openly LGB individuals from military service are also of long duration. Yet LGB servicemembers have continued to serve covertly in the military for many decades. Moreover, political issues and social conventions associated with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) have diverted focus from imperative research issues, such as LGB servicemembers and incidents of victimization in the military. Research is reviewed to evaluate such victimization, which is conceptualized as resulting from a convergence of sexual stigma, conservative gender role beliefs, and sexual prejudice. DADT, in combination with overarching difficulties intrinsic to sexual orientation research, serves to augment LGB victimization and reduce victim reports and help seeking. Consequently, there is a deficient evidence base for assisting LGB servicemembers and for advancing research, prevention efforts, and policy changes. Implications of repealing DADT are discussed, as are future directions for LGB military research.
