Avoidant coping as a mediator between appearance-related victimization and self-esteem in young Australian adolescents.

Peer victimization, especially appearance-related bullying, is a highly stressful experience for a young person and is associated with significant negative outcomes. Perhaps, the most common consequence of peer victimization in adolescence is lowered self-esteem. Evidence supports the role of low self-esteem as a non-specific risk factor and high self-esteem as a protective factor in the development of mental disorders and social problems in adolescence. Moreover, the literature indicates a robust negative relationship between avoidant coping (i.e. distracting oneself, wishing the situation would go away) and psychological well-being. In this paper, we test a mediational model of the associations between appearance-related victimization, avoidance coping and self-esteem in young Australian adolescents. Boys (N = 194) and girls (N = 185) with a mean age of 11 years completed measures assessing self-esteem, appearance-related victimization and styles of coping. The results showed that avoidant coping partially mediates the association between appearance-related bullying problems and self-esteem among young adolescents. This finding provides a specific target for psychosocial interventions in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]