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Peer victimization is a chronic stressor that occurs within the context of peer interactions and has been robustly associated with numerous negative psychological and social adjustment problems. Although increased frequency of peer victimization has been linked to psychosocial problems, few researchers have studied the role of duration and pervasiveness of victimization (i.e., number of places it occurs). The objective of this study was to examine how frequency, duration, and pervasiveness of peer victimization are associated with youth adjustment. Canadian adolescents (N = 879), ages 12–18 completed an online survey about experiences with peer victimization. Youth also answered questions about internalizing problems, distress, relationship quality with family, friends, and adults in their school and community, as well as academic functioning. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression modeling. Both duration and pervasiveness of peer victimization were predictive of increased internalizing problems, distress, relationship problems, and academic difficulties. Duration and pervasiveness of peer victimization were identified as important factors to consider when predicting youth psychosocial adjustment. By asking questions about these situational factors, parents, teachers, and healthcare providers may more effectively identify youth who are at risk for experiencing mental health problems associated with peer victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Youth involved with school bullying are vulnerable to many negative outcomes, including substance use. Research has yet to examine how this vulnerability operates in the context of other individual and neighbourhood differences. The current study aimed to fill this gap by using multilevel modeling to investigate both the individual and neighbourhood risk factors associated with frequent drunkenness and frequent cannabis use among adolescents.Methods: Data from the 2010 Canadian Health Behaviours in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey were analyzed. Participants consisted of 8971 students from 173 neighbourhoods across Canada. Multilevel modeling was used to examine both individual (age, gender, bullying, victimization, peer deviancy, negative affect) and neighbourhood (socioeconomic status, crime, physical neighbourhood disorder, residential instability) risk factors. We tested whether the links between bullying involvement and frequent substance use were mediated by other risk factors.Results: Both individual and neighbourhood risk factors were associated with an increased likelihood of frequent substance use. Specifically, bullying served as a unique risk factor for frequent substance use over and above more traditional risk factors. A cross-level interaction was observed between residential instability and peer deviancy, such that the link between peer deviancy and frequent drunkenness was stronger in more residentially-unstable neighbourhoods. Peer deviancy partially mediated the link between bullying and both types of frequent substance use, whereas both peer deviancy and negative affect mediated the link between victimization and both types of frequent substance use.Conclusions: Youth who bully others are vulnerable to frequent substance use across peer and neighbourhood contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longitudinal data from 746 adolescents in Toronto, Canada (54% females), was gathered in eight waves over seven years (1995 through 2001), beginning when the youths were 10 to 12 years old (mean age = 11.8,SD= 1.2 years). Five trajectories of substance use were identified: chronic-high, childhood onset-rapid high, childhood onset-moderate, adolescent onset-moderate, and non-use groups. Late childhood risk factors for substance use included delinquency, academic disengagement, low parental monitoring, and associating with substance-using peers. Externalizing problems emerged as an additional risk factor for the most severe substance-using group during adolescence. Of note, the childhood onset-moderate group reported only moderate levels of substance use during adolescence despite high levels of risk during late childhood. Implications for prevention of and intervention for substance use are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract Bullying is a relationship problem that most often occurs in the presence of peers. Peers who witness bullying play a critical role in intervening. Peer intervention, or defending, is a complex behavior. Defending a victimized peer can occur offline and online, with many similarities between the two contexts. This paper, guided by the Social Ecological Model, systematically reviewed the correlates associated with defending at different levels including: individual, peer, family, and school. Inclusion criteria retrieved a final sample of 130 original, peer-reviewed research articles on offline defending, and 25 articles for online defending. Consistent results across both contexts reveal that individuals who defend tend to be girls, have high empathy and low moral disengagement, are popular and well-liked by their peers, and perceive supportive relationships with their parents, teachers, and schools. More research is needed to understand interactions that may occur between levels of the model, as defending is a complex behavior that cannot be characterized by isolated correlates. Highlights • Both offline and online defending are associated with individual, peer, family, and school correlates. • Empathy was the most researched individual correlate, with all significant findings (75%) positively related to defending. • For offline defending, sociometric status was the most researched correlate, and its association may be bidirectional. • The bystander model was the most studied correlate of online defending, with most research (84%) noting a positive link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]