1. Objectifs

Intentions :
This «study aimed to test whether internalizing problems may explain […] the temporal stability of dating violence victimization over time as well as the longitudinal association between peer victimization and subsequent dating violence victimization in adolescence. It will also examine whether, in line with the cyclical model of the stress generation hypothesis, peer victimization and dating violence victimization mediate the stability of internalizing symptoms over time. An additional goal was to examine a potential moderating effect of gender in these associations.» (p. 4-5)

Questions/Hypothèses :
The «association between peer victimization and dating violence (while using internalizing symptoms as a mediator) was expected to be stronger for girls than for boys.» (p. 5)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The study sample was drawn from the Quebec Youth Romantic Relationships Survey (QYRRS), a longitudinal study conducted in Quebec, Canada with five assessment times starting in fall 2011. […] The current study only used data from the three first assessment times […]. Respectively, 8,194, 6,779 and 1,833 students answered the survey at Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3 […]» (p. 5) «Specifically, participants had to meet at least one of the three following conditions[:] having been in a dating relationship in the year preceding the first wave, or [h]aving been in a dating relationship within the 6 months preceding the second wave, or [h]aving been in a dating relationship within the 6 months preceding the third wave. […] The final study sample [was] composed of 4,923 participants (59.6% girls) aged between 14 and 18 years […].» (p. 6)

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Equally for girls and boys, the results only partially supported the stress generation hypothesis. The longitudinal association between peer victimization and dating violence victimization was significantly mediated by internalizing problems. In addition, the longitudinal stability of internalizing problems was mediated by peer victimization, and the longitudinal stability of dating violence victimization was mediated by internalizing problems […]. However, dating violence victimization did not mediate the longitudinal stability of internalizing problems. Moreover, […] although peer victimization at T1 did predict increased internalizing problems at T2 in the present study—this mediational path could not be formally tested in the present study. The significant indirect association between peer victimization and subsequent dating violence victimization, mediated via increased internalized problems, represents an important finding. [The] present results suggest that the stress generation hypothesis may explain the transfer of victimization from one social context to another over time. The present results also support, albeit only tentatively, the bidirectional and cyclical nature of the association between internalizing problems and peer victimization found in previous studies […]. This bidirectional association was not unequivocally found for dating violence victimization. Indeed, dating violence victimization was significantly predicted by previous internalized problems at each wave, but the reverse association was not consistently observed across all time points.» (p. 16-17)