Academic Consequences of Multiple Victimization and the Role of School Security Measures

Adolescents who experience multiple victimization (i.e., victimization on a regular basis) are at greater risk for having negative academic outcomes including lower achievement and poorer attendance than those who do not experience such victimization. Yet, the role of school contexts in this relationship remains unclear. Nevertheless, school-based efforts to reduce victimization often focus on altering contexts without sufficient evidence of associations with improved student outcomes. School security measures constitute one such suite of contextual interventions aimed at reducing victimization. This study tested a moderated mediation model in which the relationship between multiple victimization and academic performance is mediated by absenteeism, and the relationship between multiple victimization and absenteeism is moderated by the presence of school security measures. Participants were 5930 (49.6% female and 79.51% White) 12- to 18-year-old adolescents from a national sample collected through the 2011 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Results of path analysis models indicated that the relationship between multiple victimization and academic performance was partially mediated by absenteeism, and that both metal detectors and security guards moderated the relationship between multiple victimization and absenteeism. Additional analyses revealed the utility of considering subpopulations of victims characterized by specific facets of their contexts. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.