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Coping with peer arguments in school-age children with bully/victim problems
1Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, Patricia. Bijttebier@psy.kuleuven.ac.be
Background And Aims:
This paper reports data on the relationship between bully/victim problems and the coping strategies used when confronted with a peer argument. Specifically, we examine the extent to which bully/victim problems are related to five types of coping strategies (Social Support Seeking, Problem-Solving, Distancing, Internalising and Externalising).
Sample:
The sample consists of 329 children (168 boys, 161 girls), drawn from the fourth- through sixth-grade classrooms of three Flemish elementary schools.
Results And Conclusion:
In the correlational analyses, both victimisation and social neglect are shown to be related to internalising coping, whereas bullying is associated with externalising coping and with a lack of problem-solving. Moreover, a positive relationship between victimisation and social support seeking was found. Separate analyses for boys and girls and a consecutive categorical approach provide a more precise picture of the link between social coping strategies and bully/victim problems.