Concurrent and longitudinal links between friendship and peer victimization: implications for befriending interventions

Abstract

This short-term longitudinal study examined the associations between peer reports of victimization and self-reported friendship among early adolescents. It was carried out to test the view that friendship provides protection against victimization (called the "friendship protection hypothesis"). Data were collected at two points within a school year, separated by 6 months. At Time 1, 170 pupils provided data, and 158 of these did so again at Time 2. Three sets of findings were consistent with the friendship protection hypothesis. First, at Time 1 those early adolescents who had a reciprocated best friend in their home class received significantly fewer peer nominations for victimization than did classmates without a reciprocated best friend. Second, those early adolescents that did not have best friend at either Time 1 or Time 2 showed the highest increase in victimization over the course of the study, whereas those that did have a best friend at both Times 1 and 2 showed the highest falls in victimization. Third, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that a decrease in conflict and betrayal reported to characterize the participants' best friendship was associated with falls in victimization. The implications of these results for anti-bullying initiatives based on "befriending" principles were discussed.