Bullying and depressive symptomatology among low-income, African-American youth.
Utilizing a risk and protective factors approach, this research examined the relationship between self-reported depressive symptomatology, group membership (bully, victim, bully-victim) risks, and protection among a sample of African-American youths. Self-report data were collected in spring, 2002. Youth in grades 5-12 were sampled (n = 1,542; 51% female) from an urban school district in the Southeast. African-American youths self-identifying as bullies, victims, or bully-victims, reported higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to their nonbullied-nonvictimized counterparts. Additionally, multivariate results highlight a significant set of risk and protective factors associated with depressive symptomatology, even after controlling for the effects of self-identified group membership. These findings further contribute to our general understanding of the interplay among bullying, victimization, risk and protective factors, and their effects on depressive symptoms among a group of understudied African-American youth.
Fitzpatrick
Kevin M
KM
Department of Sociology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA. kfitzpa@uark.edu
Dulin
Akilah
A
Piko
Bettina
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000374:Aggression; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D010379:Peer Group; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012649:Self Concept