Peer victimization is a common and insidious risk factor for maladjustment, although the pathways through which victimization takes its effect on adjustment across time are not yet clear. It may be that experiences of victimization, either at a young and formative age or as a long-term burden, have a significant impact on how children and adolescents go on to negotiate their social world, altering the intensity of their social goal orientation into the adolescent transition. Following victimization, children may become more motivated to avoid unpleasant social punishments (e.g., negative feedback or peer judgments) and to approach compensatory social rewards (e.g., dominance or status); peer victimization also may undermine children’s mastery-oriented goals for developing social skills in favor of easier (if less lastingly effective) paths to improved social standing. The current study examined the hypothesis that early (2nd grade) and growth in (2nd – 7th grade) peer victimization would predict lower levels of mastery goals and elevated levels of performance approach and avoidance goals in the 7th grade. Longitudinal growth curve analysis was employed in a diverse sample of 636 youth followed from the 2nd to 7th grade, reporting annually on experiences of overt and relational peer victimization and reporting on social goals in the 2nd and 7th grades. Results indicated that early and increasing peer victimization uniquely predicted elevated performance approach and avoidance goals in middle school, but were not significantly associated with mastery goals. No evidence for sex differences in these relationships was found.
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Peer victimization across the school years: consequences for middle school social goals
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