Victimization and family support

Both of these studies highlight buffering, the first by school climate and the second by family support. First, Clark, Strissel, Demaray, Ogg, Eldridge & Malecki (2022) published “Victimization and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescence: The role of perceived school climate” in School Psychology. 

Nearly 4 million adolescents in the United States experience clinical depression, and this alarming rate has increased in recent years. Adolescents’ perceptions of their school’s climate may moderate the association between victimization and depressive symptoms, including suicidality; however, it is unclear whether perceived school climate would act as a buffer or intensifier of the association between victimization and depressive symptoms. The present study examined how different types of victimization (traditional, cyber, and homophobic) are associated with depressive symptoms in middle schoolers (N = 1,151), and whether these associations are buffered or exacerbated by how adolescents perceive school climate. Multiple moderated regression analyses revealed traditional and cyber victimization were significantly positively associated with depressive symptoms, whereas homophobic victimization was not directly associated with depressive symptoms. Further, perceived school climate moderated these associations, exacerbating the link between cyber victimization and depressive symptoms, and buffering the link between homophobic victimization and depression. Results support the importance of middle schoolers’ perceptions of school climate in understanding the associations between victimization experiences and depressive symptoms. 

While this study suggests that school climate can buffer or exacerbate depression, the second study emphasizes buffering via family support. Darling, West, Jelalian, Putt & Sato (2023) published “The Buffering Effect of Family Support on the Association between Weight-based Teasing and Adolescent Weight Management Outcomes” in Journal of Family Psychology.  

Weight-based victimization (WBV) is associated with poor weight-related outcomes in adolescence. Family support may be one protective factor against the negative impact of WBV. The goal of this study is to examine the moderating effect of family support on the association between WBV and early weight loss for adolescents in a clinical weight management program. Parents of adolescents (N = 78) completed psychosocial measures at baseline. Objective height and weight were measured at baseline and follow-up (Visit 3). The overall model was significant (p = .02), explaining 12.76% of the variance in weight change over the first 2 months of treatment. As hypothesized, there was a significant moderating effect of family support on the association between WBV and weight change (p = .04), accounting 5.0% of the variance in weight change. Increased support from the family buffered the negative impact of WBV on early treatment outcomes for adolescents in a weight management program. 

The adverse effects of victimization are well known. Here, we see the value of asking teens about their perceptions of school climate and family support.