Consequences of school bullying and violence

Numerous studies conducted over several decades have shown that victimization is associated with adjustment problems such as depression, low selfesteem, anxiety, suicidal ideation and school avoidance. It has also interpersonal correlates such as rejection and lack of friends. The strongest effect sizes are usually obtained for depression and other internalising problems. Longitudinal studies indicate that many of the concurrent correlates of victimization are both antecedents and consequences of it, suggesting a vicious cycle by which children get trapped in a role of continued victimization. Some moderating factors that might protect victimized children against the negative consequences have been investigated, but more research in this area is needed. Not only individual, but also interpersonal and social contextual factors might moderate the relationship between victimization experiences and adjustment problems. The results from two Finnish follow-up studies are presented: they indicate that in the short term, victimization contributes to an increasingly negative generalized view of peers over time. In the long term, victimization in grade eight predicts depression and a negative view of other persons in young adulthood (controling for children’s overal happiness and satisfaction in grade eight). Unlike victimization, perceived popularity and perceived family support in grade eight were not predictive of the outcome measures. The consequences of school bullying for the whole group are briefly discussed, and initial evidence of the association between the degree of victimization and dissatisfaction with school life at the classroom level is presented. Some future challenges in the study of consequences of bullying and victimization are delineated. Victimization and well-being: concurrent associations It is evident that children exposed to systematic victimization by their peers suffer from adjustment problems. The review by Hawker & Boulton (2000), based on studies conducted during two decades, showed that victimization is concurrently associated with depression, loneliness, both generalized and social anxiety, and low