Bullying as a Group Process in Childhood: A Longitudinal Social Network Analysis

J. Ashwin Rambaran*, Jan Kornelis Dijkstra, Rene Veenstra

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

53 Citations (Scopus)
347 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study investigates the dynamic interplay between bullying relationships and friendships in a sample of 481 students in 19 elementary school classrooms (age 8-12 years; 50% boys). Based on a relational framework, it is to be expected that friendships would be formed when two children bullied the same person and that children would start to bully the victims of their friends. Similarly, it is to be expected that friendships would be formed when two children were victimized by the same bully and that children would become victimized by the bullies of their friends. Longitudinal bivariate social network analysis supported the first two hypotheses but not the latter two. This study provides evidence for group processes in bullying networks in childhood.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1336-1352
Number of pages17
JournalChild Development
Volume91
Issue number4
Early online date19-Aug-2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul-2020

Keywords

  • VICTIMIZATION
  • FRIENDSHIPS
  • BEHAVIOR
  • SCHOOL
  • AGGRESSION
  • SELECTION
  • ADOLESCENCE
  • CHILDREN
  • SEX
  • ASSOCIATIONS

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bullying as a Group Process in Childhood: A Longitudinal Social Network Analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this