The Longitudinal Effects of Peer Victimization on Physical Health From Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Extensive research with children and adolescents documents the deleterious mental health outcomes associated with peer victimization, and recent research suggests that peer victimization is also associated with physical health problems in these age groups. The present study examines the concurrent and prospective links between physical and relational victimization and physical health problems (physical symptoms and physical self-concept) from adolescence to young adulthood (age 12-29 years).

Data were collected from the Victoria Healthy Youth Survey, a six-wave multicohort study conducted biennially between 2003 and 2014 (N = 662).

As expected, both relational and physical victimization were associated with greater physical symptoms and poorer physical self-concept concurrently and with physical self-concept over time. Relational victimization, which occurred more frequently, also predicted physical symptoms across young adulthood.

Peer victimization puts adolescents at risk for immediate and long-term physical health difficulties. This study highlights the unique effects of physical and relational victimization and shows that victimized youth continue to experience poorer physical health for years after high school.