Defending Behavior and Victimization: Between- and Within-Person Associations

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Adolescent Health

Background:

• Anti-bullying programs often promote peer defending.
• Concerns exist that defending may increase bystander victimization risk.
• Limited longitudinal research exists on defending and victimization dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate bidirectional associations between defending and victimization in adolescents.
• To differentiate between-person and within-person effects.
• To examine three types of defending: comforting, assertive, and reporting.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study with 5123 Finnish adolescents (grades 4-9).
• Used random-intercept cross-lagged panel models.
• Employed peer-reported defending and self/peer-reported victimization measures.

Main Results:

• A negative association was found between comforting defending and self-reported victimization at the between-person level.
• No significant prospective within-person associations were detected between any defending type and victimization.
• Defending was not identified as a risk factor for subsequent victimization.

Conclusions:

• Intervening in bullying situations does not appear to pose a risk for future victimization.
• Findings suggest that peer defending can be encouraged without exacerbating victimization.
• Further research can explore nuances of different defending strategies and outcomes.