History of Peer Victimization and Children's Response to School Bullying

We examined the degree to which children with and without a history of stable peer victimization differentially endorse strategies for dealing with school bullies. Participants were 323 children, 58 of whom met criteria for chronic peer victimization. Children with a history of stable peer victimization differed from comparison children in how they rated various strategies, but the findings were gender specific. Chronically bullied girls were less inclined to endorse any strategy (coercive or noncoercive), whereas chronically bullied boys generally endorsed adult-recommended strategies. However, strategy endorsement for boys was associated with greater levels of peer victimization in the following grade. Discussed is the complex role of interpersonal strategies in affecting change in bullied children's victimization experiences and the implications for intervening on behalf of chronically bullied children.