Predictors of Peer Victimization among Urban Youth

This study examined aggression and withdrawal as predictors of peer victimization. In addition, peer rejection was evaluated as both a moderator and mediator of these relations. The sample consisted of 1956 African-American, Hispanic, and White elementary school-aged boys and girls attending urban and inner-city schools that were classified as high or moderate disadvantage. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that aggression predicted both contemporaneous and longitudinal victimization by peers. This relation maintained across school disadvantage, ethnicity, age, and sex, and was mediated by rejection. Withdrawal, mediated by rejection, predicted victimization for fourth graders only; withdrawal also reduced risk for victimization for low rejected children. The implications for understanding the dynamics of childhood victimization and intervention are discussed.