Peer victimization and prosocial experiences and emotional well‐being of middle school students

This study investigated the relationships among different forms of peer victimization and prosocial experiences and early adolescent emotional well‐being. A total of 571 students in grades 6–8 were administered the Positive and Negative Affect Scale–Children, Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale, and the Children's Self Experience Questionnaire–Self Report. Females reported more prosocial experiences; males reported more overt and relational victimization. Differential predictors were observed for the emotional well‐being variables of life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect in a series of hierarchical multiple regression equations. Overt victimization experiences added significant variance to all three well‐being equations. Relational victimization experiences added significant variance to the negative affect equation. After accounting for overt and relational experiences, prosocial experiences added significant variance to the life satisfaction and positive affect equations. The experience of prosocial peer interactions thus appears to serve as a protective factor with respect to the relationship between victimization and life satisfaction and positive affect for early adolescents.