Protective and Risk Factors of Peer Victimization among Adolescents: A Perspective from Victims

Abstract

Peer victimization occurs when inappropriate behavior deviant from the social moral norm is conducted repeatedly, causing detrimental harm to victims. Growing numbers of studies cast focus on the deleterious consequences of peer victimization and the factors associated with it. The current study reviews previous research and summarizes risk and protective factors linked to peer victimization from a victim's perspective with a focus on social resources, psychological resources, parent-child relationships, and the peer selection process. The popularity enjoyed by adolescents is a protective factor against peer victimization, while peer rejection increases the likelihood of victimization. The number of friends buffers peer victimization, whereas quality's role is unclear. Shyness and internalizing problems increase peer victimization, both of which signal the submissiveness of victims in social interaction and thus be viewed as a weak target. A negative family pattern such as parental psychological control and child maltreatment put adolescents at risk of peer victimization by suppressing autonomy and a deficit of functional social skills, respectively. In addition, the dilemma faced by a victimized individual or internalizing adolescent caused by peer selection is discussed, which implies that the group of people is facing more obstacles in building peer social resources, yet they need it more imperatively. Interventions should be further explored and targeted at the risk and protective factors reviewed in the current study.