Abigail Gonzalez Bejarano, Blanche Wright, M.A., & Anna Lau, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles
First Independent Research Project
PROPS 2018-2019
Introduction
Why Peer Victimization?
Bullying in schools has been a topic of discussion for several years, and even though schools have focused on creating preventative measures, there still seems to be a lack of effective solutions to control the problem. Existing literature overall notes two forms of peer victimization, relational victimization and overt victimization. Relational victimization in this context, and in simpler terms, is when students are victims of social exclusion. This can be done through rumor spreading, gossiping, among other things. Overt victimization, on the other hand, is when students are victims of physical and verbal aggression. This can be done through pushing, shoving, calling names, and more. Even though there are several different approaches to anti-bullying treatments and school policies, research has proven that not every intervention is applicable to students (Vreeman & Carroll, 2007, p. 86). In fact, a cumulation of studies has shown that while one intervention might decrease bullying in one school, in other schools there can be no effect or sometimes promote more peer victimization among students (Vreeman & Carroll, 2007, p. 79). Not being able to properly control and treat this problem can harm these student victims emotionally, behaviorally, and academically.
Why Asian-Americans and Latinx Students?
It was found that “Approximately 60% of Latino and 70% of Asian youth live in families that have at least one parent who is a first-generation immigrant” (Hong et al., 2013, p. 319). Being that these two groups are the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the United States, both Asian and Latinx youth may be at a greater risk for mental health concerns as they encounter high levels of peer victimization due to factors such as lack of acculturation, and low socioeconomic status (Hong et al., 2013, p. 316). The literature revealed that schools with heavily populated recently immigrated families create for poor school climate, directly affecting these students. Not only are these students being targeted by their peers, but also by teachers and administrators who are not trained to effectively and efficiently teach these students. These same teachers and administrators have reported seeing these students as burdens due to their limited capabilities in the classroom when comparing them to their acculturated students (Hong et al., 2013, p. 320). Victimization from peers, lack of support from educators and administrators, and the lack of resources in these communities heavily limits the possibility of effective anti-bullying programs at their schools. As mentioned before, when victimization is not treated for, victimized students suffer the consequences through emotional, behavioral, and academic difficulties. With a lack of literature on peer victimization focusing on Asian-American and Latinx student samples independently from other ethnic/racial groups, we found it important to add to the existing literature with current data collected.
Current Project
Aim 1: Examine racial/ethnic differences in peer victimization and experiences of mental health difficulties (i.e., emotional problems; conduct problems)
Aim 2: Examine relationship between peer victimization and mental health difficulties in Asian-American/Latinx youth
Preparing the Data
Demographics
The participants in the full sample consisted of 3,021 students from a Title 1 urban school district in the LA County area, 4th-12th grade. This means that the school is federally funded, most of their student population comes from a low-income household, and the majority of students receive free-and-reduced lunch. These students also come from primarily first, second, and third-generation immigrant families. The data was provided, collected, and entered under Dr. Anna S. Lau/UCLA Culture and Minority Mental Health Lab.
Design
A cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess school climate in grades 4-12.
Materials
Materials used for this study included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a 25-item questionnaire, used to measure emotional problems and conduct problems on a 0 through 6 Likert scale, with 0 being not true and 6 being certainly true (Goodman, Meltzer, & Bailey, 1998).
Peer victimization was measured using the Aggression/Victimization Scale, a 12-item questionnaire measured on a 0 through 6 Likert scale, with 0 being zero times and 6 being six or more times. The scale measured how many times did a student experience peer victimization from peers at school (Dahlberg, Toal, Swahn, & Behrens, 2005).
Examples questions are provided
Procedure
The school climate survey was administered to a random sample of students in Grades 4 through 12. The sample was stratified by grade and school campus (Bear, Finer, Guo, & Lau, 2014). All students in selected classrooms present on the date of data collection participated. They were instructed to anonymously complete the survey during non-instructional class time (Bear et al., 2014, p. 391).
Analyzing the Data in SPSS
Running Descriptive/Frequency Analyses:
We are doing these to learn about the data we are working with. We will only focus on race and grade to learn more about the student sample.
Explanation:
After running the descriptive and frequency analyses we are provided with tables that show us only the data we selected. We see that there is a total of 3,021 students, grade levels are 4th-12th, and race is composed of 8 categories. The frequency table provides more details by showing how many students are in each category. For example, there are 438 12th graders and they make up 14.5%.
Running Independent-Samples T-Test:
Our first aim is to compare how Asian Americans and Latinx youth experience relational victimization v. overt victimization, and emotional v. conduct problems. To do this we will need to run independent-samples t-tests. Before we do this we need to recode a new race variable that distinguishes Asians v. Latinx v. All Others. For the purposes of this study, Asian and Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders are categorized as Asian-Americans, and Hispanic and HispanicWhite are categorized as Hispanic.
Explanation:
After recoding the race variable we now only have 3 categories instead of the original 8. When we run frequencies we see that our selected sample is now 2,585 instead of 3,021.
After running our t-tests, we are looking at the Group Statistics and Independent Samples Test output. If results are statistically significant when p < .05, then relational victimization and conduct problems are significant.
Based on this information we compare means for those two variables and can see that Hispanics experience significantly more relational victimization than Asian-American students, and Asian-American students experience significantly more emotional problems than their Hispanic peers.
Running Multiple Regressions Analyses:
Our second aim is to examine the relationship between peer victimization and mental health difficulties among Asian-American and Latinx youth. To do this we run multiple regression analyses. The reason for this is to know how much the independent variables (e.g. overt & relational victimization) predict the outcome of the dependent variables (e.g. emotional & conduct problems). We cannot predict causality with correlation analysis. Before running analyses, we must create a filter to ensure only Asian-Americans and Hispanics are selected.
Explanation:
As mentioned before, statistically significant results are those that are p < .05. All of our results are statistically significant. This confirms our prediction that Asian-American and Latinx students experience significant levels of peer victimization which is positively associated with conduct and emotional problems.
We know this is a positive association by looking at the B unstandardized coefficients. This number tells us the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. Since they are all positive this means that high or positive levels of victimization are associated with high/positive levels of mental-health problems for Asian-American and Latinx youth.
Summarizing Findings/Visiualizations
Aim 1:
Even though the scores are low for peer victimization levels, there is still a significant difference.
Latinx students experienced significantly higher levels of relational victimization when compared to their Asian-American peers.
Latinx students also experienced a higher level of overt victimization when compares to their Asian-American peers.
Asian-American students experienced more emotional problems when compared to their Latinx peers.
Latinx students experienced significantly higher levels of conduct problems when compared to their Asian-American peers.
Aim 2:
Overall there is a positive association between experiences of peer victimization and emotional symptoms and conduct problems.
Overt Victimization shows a stronger association with conduct problems when compared to emotional problems.
Relational victimization shows a stronger association with emotional problems when compared to conduct problems.
Next Steps
Discussion:
A reason that Latinx students in particularly might experience higher levels of relational victimization (social exclusion) could be due to levels of racial discrimination
We cannot confirm or deny because we do not who the aggressors were in the study
Could have been within or between aggression? Family? Authority/Teacher figures?
A possibility why overt victimization (physical bullying) is not significant could be because it is risky, it’s more noticeable at school
Students are less likely to start fights at school when there is a lot of supervision by teachers and staff all around
Conclusions:
Suggested clinical treatment should target conduct and emotional problems in youth
Effectively minimize problem behavior and promote positive behavior
Research has shown that when early mental disorders are controlled for early enough negative behaviors and behaviors are minimized and even disappear
Treatment should target both aggressors and victims
Schools should intervene by establishing anti-bullying policies
Future Research:
Future steps for the current study are to examine differences by youth race/ethnicity and gender to inform more targeted school interventions.
Future research should examine rates of peer victimizations and emotional and behavioral problems post evidence-based targeted treatments in Asian and Latinx student populations (K-12)
Future steps should examine how rates of emotional and conduct problems affect academic achievement in a Latinx and Asian student population
References
Bear, L., Finer, R., Guo, S., & Lau, A. S. (2014). Building the gateway to success: An appraisal of progress in reaching underserved families and reducing racial disparities in school-based mental health. Psychological Services,11(4), 388-397. doi:10.1037/a0037969
Dahlberg, L. L., Toal, S. B., Swahn, M. H., & Behrens, C. B. (2005). Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences among Youths A Compendium of Assessment Tools (2nd ed.). Atlanta, GA: Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse
Goodman, R., Meltzer, H. & Bailey, V. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (1998) 7: 125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s007870050057
Hong, J. S., Peguero, A. A., Choi, S., Lanesskog, D., Espelage, D. L., & Lee, N. Y. (2014). Social Ecology of Bullying and Peer Victimization of Latino and Asian Youth in the United States: A Review of the Literature. Journal of School Violence, 13(3), 315-338. doi:10.1080/15388220.2013.856013
Lopez, C., & Dubois, D. L. (2005). Peer Victimization and Rejection: Investigation of an Integrative Model of Effects on Emotional, Behavioral, and Academic Adjustment in Early Adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology,34(1), 25-36. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3401_3
McDougall, P., & Vaillancourt, T. (2015). Long-term adult outcomes of peer victimization in childhood and adolescence: Pathways to adjustment and maladjustment. American Psychologist,70(4), 300-310. doi:10.1037/a0039174
Seaton, E. K., Neblett, E. W., Cole, D. J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2012). Perceived Discrimination and Peer Victimization Among African American and Latino Youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence,42(3), 342-350. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9848-6
Steele, R. G., Elkin, T., & Roberts, M. C. (2008). Handbook of evidence-based therapies for children and adolescents bridging science and practice. New York, NY: Springer.
Vreeman, R. C., & Carroll, A. E. (2007). A Systematic Review of School-Based Interventions to Prevent Bullying. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine,161(1), 78-88. doi:10.1001/archpedi.161.1.78