The Association of Stalking Victimization With Adolescents' Depressed Mood and School Mattering

Stalking victimization may have a significant impact on adolescents' well-being, above and beyond the effects of other types of interpersonal violence victimization. This article explored the association of stalking victimization (unwanted harassing or threats) with adolescents' depressed mood and perception of mattering to other people. Adolescents (age M = 15.8 at baseline, 50.3% girls, 88.9% non-Hispanic White, 85.9% heterosexual) took surveys at two time points and reported on stalking victimization, depressed mood, and perception of mattering. Results indicate that, even when controlling for previous depressed mood and mattering, the odds of depressed mood and mattering among stalking victims was, respectively, 3.31 times higher and 0.49 times lower than the odds of depressed mood and mattering in non-victims. When controlling for other victimization experiences (i.e., dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment), the odds of depressed mood among stalking victims was 2.31 times higher than the odds of depressed mood among non-victims, but stalking victims were not less likely to report mattering. Although more research is needed, these results suggest that assessment and intervention efforts should target depressed mood in stalking victims in addition to underscoring the need for primary prevention of stalking in adolescence.