Interpersonal Style and Depression Symptoms in Victims of Bullying: A Longitudinal Study Across the Transition Out of Dutch High School

Bullying victimization is linked to interpersonal difficulties and elevated depression risk, yet it is unclear whether these difficulties persist after victims leave the bullying environment. Using a longitudinal design with event-contingent recording (ECR), we examined the interpersonal styles of bullying victims during their final year of high school (T1) and 1 year later (T2). At T1, we hypothesized that victims would exhibit more maladaptive interpersonal styles compared to adolescents without any bullying experiences (non-involved). At T2, we examined whether the observed differences between the two groups at T1 persisted after participants transitioned out of the bullying environment, which could potentially explain victims' long-term risk for depression. At T1, participants included 27 self-reported bullying victims and 56 non-involved adolescents; 9 victims and 26 non-involved remained at T2. At each time point, participants completed 14 days of ECR, rating their behaviors and perceptions of their interaction partners (referred to as "others") on dominance-submissiveness and agreeableness-quarrelsomeness, and pre- and post-ECR measures of depression symptoms. At T1, victims generally perceived others as less agreeable and reported more negative affect than non-involved adolescents. By T2, these general differences in perceived agreeableness and negative affect between victims and non-involved adolescents were no longer observed. However, victims continued to perceive others as less agreeable than non-involved adolescents when perceiving their partners as highly dominant. At both time points, victims consistently reported higher depression symptoms. Additionally, depression symptoms were negatively associated with perceptions of agreeableness at T1 and with behaviors displaying agreeableness at T2. During high school, victims exhibited distinct perceptions of others and affect across social situations compared to non-involved adolescents. Interpersonal differences between victims and non-involved adolescents became less pervasive after leaving high school, but some context-specific differences persisted alongside higher depression symptoms. These findings may help explain victims' long-term vulnerability to depression, though conclusions are limited by attrition across waves.