A Prospective Study of the Potential Moderating Role of Social Support in Preventing Marginalization Among Individuals Exposed to Bullying and Abuse in Junior High School

Bibliographic Data

ID10924019
AuthorsIda Frugård Strøm (0000-0003-2413-4014, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, corresponding author), Siri Thoresen (0000-0001-5688-7948, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies), Tore Wentzel-Larsen (0000-0002-0318-4162, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies), Åse Sagatun (0000-0002-4205-6729, Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway), Grete Dyb (0000-0002-7138-3665, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies)
Year2014
Volume43
Issue10
Pages1642-1657
Publication date2014-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Youth and Adolescence (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2891 • E-ISSN: 1573-6601
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10964-014-0145-4
PMID24985489
PMCIDPMC4162984
OpenAlexW2148854767
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited52

Negative physical and psychological long-term consequences of abuse and bullying are well documented. It is reasonable to assume that abuse and bullying early in life also may have an impact on the ability to work and stay economically independent later in life, but such prospective studies are lacking. This study investigates the consequences of exposure to abuse and bullying in junior high school, as measured by receiving long-term social welfare benefits in young adulthood. In addition, it explores the potential protective role of social support. Self-reported data from 13,633 (50.3% female) junior high school students were linked to registry data on their use of social welfare benefits from the age of 18 and for eight consecutive years. Cox regression analyses were applied to test the relationship between exposure to life adversities and the use of social welfare benefits, and the potential moderating role of social support. The analyses showed that individuals exposed to abuse and bullying had an increased likelihood of receiving social-welfare benefits compared with individuals not exposed to these types of abuse. Exposure to multiple types of abuse led to a higher likelihood of using social welfare benefits compared with single types of abuse and no abuse. The findings on the potential moderating role of social support were mixed, depending on the source of social support. Family support and classmate relationships were protective in reducing the likelihood of the use of social welfare benefits, whereas peer and teachers' support showed inconsistent patterns. These results are promising in terms of preventing the long-term negative consequences of abuse and bullying

Developmental psychology · Health psychology · Legal psychology · Public health · Social support · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology · Youth Development and Social Support

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access