Victimization, Perceived Social Support, and Psychological Outcomes Among African -American and Caucasian Adolescents
Holt, Melissa Kyle
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/79664
Description
Title
Victimization, Perceived Social Support, and Psychological Outcomes Among African -American and Caucasian Adolescents
Author(s)
Holt, Melissa Kyle
Issue Date
2002
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Espelage, Dorothy L.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Psychology, Developmental
Language
eng
Abstract
Prevalence rates and psychological correlates of sexual harassment and dating violence among African-American and Caucasian adolescents were examined. In addition, perceived social support was evaluated as a moderator between victimization experiences and psychological functioning. Participants were 450 high school students enrolled in physical education courses at a medium-sized Midwestern school. To assess victimization history, respondents completed the American Association of University Women Sexual Harassment Survey (AAUW, 1993), the Victimization in Dating Relationships Inventory (Foshee et al., 1996), the Abusive Behavior Inventory (Shepard & Campbell, 1992), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein et al., 1994). Measures of psychological functioning were the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (Weinberger & Schwartz, 1990), from which an indicator of distress was derived, and the Youth Self-Report (Achenbach, 1991), from which anxiety/depression levels were computed. Finally, adolescents completed two measures of perceived social support, the Support/Cohesion Microsystem Scale (Seidman et al., 1995) and the Perceived Emotional/Personal Support Scale (Slavin, 1991). Results showed that 70% of the students had been sexually harassed by peers during the past year, 40% had experienced physical dating violence, and 19% had been victimized by emotional abuse in dating relationships. Regression analyses, completed separately for participants according to race and sex, indicated that greater victimization was associated with more psychological distress and anxiety/depression. Moreover, maternal social support buffered African-American adolescents who were physically abused in dating relationships, and peer social support also played a moderating role. A cluster analysis revealed that groups of students with similar victimization patterns existed, and that those individuals who had experienced more types of victimization also had lower psychological well-being. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for clinical and school interventions.
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