Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Chronic Social Defeat Stress in Early Adolescent Male Mice
Published on: January 24, 2025
Joint development of bullying and victimization in adolescence: relations to delinquency and self-harm
Edward D Barker1, Louise Arseneault, Mara Brendgen
1King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. Ted.Barker@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Objective:
To estimate trajectories of bullying and victimization in early to mid-adolescence, associations between the trajectories, and links with delinquency and self-harm.
Method:
A total of 3,932 adolescents (50% boys) reported bullying (ages 14 to 16), victimization (ages 13 to 16), delinquency (age 16), and self-harm (age 16).
Results:
Two bullying trajectories (low/decreasing, high/increasing) and three victimization trajectories (low, high/decreasing, high/increasing) were identified. Over time, victimization increased the likelihood of involvement in bullying to a greater extent than bullying increased the likelihood of victimization. Boys and girls in the high/increasing bullying and the low or high/increasing victimization trajectories (i.e., the bullies and the bully-victims) were highest in mid-adolescent delinquency. Girls following the high/increasing bullying and high/increasing victimization trajectories (bully-victims) were the highest in mid-adolescent self-harm.
Conclusions:
Youths who are victimized by their peers are at increased risk, in turn, of victimizing others. Sex-specific adjustment problems are associated with differing patterns of involvement in bullying and victimization among adolescents.
Related Concept Videos
Bullying
Conduct Disorder
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth. This guiding role...
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
Secondary Motives: Affiliation Motivation and Aggression Motivation
