Does School Connectedness Buffer the Impact of Peer Victimization on Early Adolescents’ Subsequent Adjustment Problems?

The current study examined the role of school connectedness as a moderator of the associations between overt and relational forms of peer victimization and early adolescents’ subsequent adjustment problems. Data were collected from 490 adolescents when they were initially in the sixth and seventh grades and again 1 year later. Regression analyses indicated that overt, but not relational, victimization predicted increases in boys’ and girls’ conduct problems and social anxiety and girls’ depressive symptoms across the 1-year period. School connectedness was associated with decreases in adolescents’ conduct problems across time and buffered the impact of overt victimization on girls’ subsequent conduct problems. Study findings highlighted the protective role of the school context for girls experiencing overt victimization.