Violencia escolar entre iguales y ajuste psicosocialDiferencias en función de la agresión y victimización

Abstract

Bullying is a current problem that has serious consequences for victims and aggressors. However, the frequency of aggression and victimization could be related to the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents, and be indicative of the different roles of adolescents in school violence among peers. Objective. The objective is to analyze possible differences in depressed mood and loneliness in five groups of adolescents according to frequency of peer violence and victimization: not involved, frequently victimized, frequent aggressors, occasionally bullies/victims, and frequently bullies/victims. Method. The sample was composed by 983 adolescents (50.7% boys and 49.3% girls), aged 12 to 19 years old, who answered the Aggressive Behavior Scale of Little, Henrich, Jones, & Hawley (2003), Peer Victimization Scale of Cava, Murgui, & Musitu (2007), Depressive Symptoms Scale of Herrero & Meneses (2006), and Loneliness Scale of Borges, Prieto, Ricchetti, Hernández-Jorge, & Rodriguez-Naveiras (2008). Results. The adolescents who are frequently victimized by peers evaluate their social network more negatively than adolescents who are occasionally aggressors/victims. Both adolescents frequently victimized without aggressive behavior (passive victims) as those at the group of frequently aggressors/victims (aggressive victims) show greater depressed mood and emotional loneliness than other roles analyzed. Conclusions. These results indicate the importance of analyzing both the different roles of adolescents in bullying, as well as the frequency of the situations of aggression and victimization. The worse psychosocial adjustment is showed by adolescents frequently victimized, regardless of their aggressive behavior, and these adolescents should be a priority objective of educational interventions.