(PS10-74) Peer Victimization in College: Prevalence, Associations, and Gender Differences

Abstract Text: Peer victimization – defined as being the recipient of peers’ aggressive behavior – is associated with a range of negative outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety; Geoffrey et al., 2018). Noting that most research on this topic has focused on children and adolescents, researchers have begun to investigate this construct in college students as this is a time of social transition and identity development (Arnett, 2000) during which victimization can occur. However, a major limitation in this area is that many studies have used measures of victimization that were not appropriate for a college sample (e.g., designed for children and adolescents; Coyne et al., 2018). This limits our ability to understand prevalence rates and associations with outcomes – and ultimately leverage such work in developing evidence-based interventions. The goal of this study was to build on recent work (Cole et al., 2020) that established the structure of peer victimization in college. We focused on one main type – Personal/Relational Victimization (PRV) – which is comprised of five subtypes: Belittlement, Broken Trust, Stereotyping, Social Exclusion, and Verbal Aggression. Our aims in this study were to first, examine descriptive statistics of each subtype; second, to examine associations with anxiety, depression, and emotion regulation (ER); and third, to investigate whether gender moderated any relations uncovered in Aim 2 (Sinclair et al., 2012).

Participants were N=476 college students (M age= 20.51 years; 33.8% cisgender men, 62.4% cisgender women, with the remainder identifying as genderqueer, transgender, or not specifying a gender). Racial identities included White (59.5%), Black (16.2%), Asian (9.9%), Multiracial (7.4%), American Indian (1.7%), or filled in another race or had missing data (5.5%). Participants completed self-reports of all constructs. Notably, the measure of victimization developed by Cole et al. (2020) asks participants to rate how often experiences have happened to them at college on a Likert Scale (1=never; 2=2-3 times; 3=4-10 times; 4=more than 10 times).

Prevalence rates for subtypes ranged from 8.2% (Verbal Aggression) to 16.0% (Broken Trust). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed that the average Belittlement score (2.15) was significantly higher than scores on the other subscales (range: 1.73-1.83). Correlations among victimization subtypes and anxiety, depression, and ER were small to moderate, but significant (range: 23-.33, in expected directions). Interestingly, with all other subtypes in the regression model, only Social Exclusion was associated with each outcome (depression, anxiety, ER; β range: .18-.43). Further, the relations among Social Exclusion and outcomes were moderated by gender such that they were significant only in men.

Although comparison of studies across developmental periods is difficult due to varying methods, it appears that the general rate of victimization may be lower in college students than in children and adolescents. However, strength of relations with internalizing symptoms may be similar (Karlsson et al., 2014). Social Exclusion may be a top intervention target as practitioners and administrators consider ways to promote norms of inclusivity and connection on college campuses.