Author:
MCMASTER LOREN E.,CONNOLLY JENNIFER,PEPLER DEBRA,CRAIG WENDY M.
Abstract
The goal of this study was to examine sexual harassment in early adolescence. Available data
indicate that peer to peer sexual harassment is prevalent in high school and is associated with
psychosocial problems for both victims and perpetrators. For the present study, we adopted a
developmental contextual model to examine the possibility that this behavior develops during the
late elementary and middle school years and is linked to the biological and social changes that
occur at this time. Youths from Grades 6–8 (N = 1,213) enrolled in seven
elementary and middle schools in a large south-central Canadian city were asked to report on their
sexual harassment behaviors with same- and cross-gender peers; their pubertal development, and
the gender composition of their peer network. The results revealed that cross-gender harassment
was distinct from same-gender harassment, increased in frequency from Grade 6 to Grade 8, and
was linked to pubertal maturation and participation in mixed-gender peer groups. The implications
of a developmental contextual model for understanding the emergence of this problematic
behavior in adolescence are discussed.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health,Developmental and Educational Psychology
Cited by
207 articles.
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