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Prospective Associations Between Peer Victimization and Dispositional Mindfulness in Early Adolescence

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An Erratum to this article was published on 28 February 2017

Abstract

Peer victimization is associated with several mental health and behavioral problems during childhood and adolescence. Identifying prospective associations between victimization and factors known to protect against these problems may ultimately contribute to more precise developmental models for victimization’s role in behavioral and mental health. This study tested prospective associations between peer victimization and dispositional mindfulness, defined by non-judgmental and accepting awareness of the constant stream of lived experience, during early adolescence. It was hypothesized that victimization would predict lower levels of mindfulness over a 4-month period. Study participants were 152 seventh and eighth grade students (female = 51%, Caucasian = 35%, Hispanic/Latino = 34%, African-American = 13%, and multi-ethnic or other = 18%) participating in a social-emotional learning intervention feasibility trial. A structural equation model tested associations between mindfulness, victimization, and covariates at baseline, and mindfulness and victimization at 4-month posttest. As hypothesized, baseline victimization predicted significantly lower levels of mindfulness at 4-month posttest. Baseline mindfulness did not predict victimization. Results may reflect victimized youths’ mindful awareness being recurrently diverted away from the present moment due to thoughts of prior and/or impending victimization. Study implications may include implementing mindful awareness practices as an intervention strategy for victimized youth to enhance and/or restore this promotive factor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Nathaniel R. Riggs

  2. Stress, Early Experiences, and Development Research Center, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Samantha M. Brown

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  1. Nathaniel R. Riggs
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  2. Samantha M. Brown
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Correspondence to Nathaniel R. Riggs.

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All procedures were approved by the Colorado State University Institutional Review Board.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures were approved by the Colorado State University Institutional Review Board. All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained by all participants included in the study.

Additional information

The original version of this article was revised: Authors’ affiliations are incorrect. Also, figure 1 image is incorrect. The text in the right side of the “Allocation” box should be changed to “Allocated to comparison group (n = 56)” with no other texts in the box.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0765-5.

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Riggs, N.R., Brown, S.M. Prospective Associations Between Peer Victimization and Dispositional Mindfulness in Early Adolescence. Prev Sci 18, 481–489 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0750-z

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