| Abstract [eng] |
This dissertation examines the relationship between an early adolescent’s discrepancy from classroom victimization norms and the development of internalized and externalized problems later in the year. The research is based on the concept of the “healthy context paradox,” which suggests that bullying in classrooms with lower victimization norms has a stronger association with the well-being of students than in classrooms with higher victimization norms. Participants were 706 public primary and middle school students (ages 9 to 14 years) in the USA (80 girls, 85 boys) and Lithuania (259 girls, 282 boys). Peer nominations and self-reports of physical and relational victimization, along with measures of externalizing (conduct problems, delinquent behavior, physical aggression, and disruptiveness) and internalizing problems (emotional symptoms and loneliness), were collected twice during an academic year. Longitudinal Group Actor Partner Inter-dependence Model (G-APIM) analyses indicated that students who deviate more from physical victimization classroom norms experience greater increases in externalizing problems. Meanwhile, discrepancy from relational victimization classroom norms was associated with increased loneliness later in the year. The findings extend research on the “healthy context paradox” and have practical implications for bullying prevention programs, which should pay special attention to students who remain victims of bullying even in safe school environments. |
