Studies have shown that children and parents provide different reports of children’s victimization, with children often reporting more victimization. However, the reason for this differential reporting is unclear. This study explored two types of social biases (emotion recognition and perceived impairment) in parents and children as possible reasons underlying differential reporting. Six- to 10-year-old children and one of their parents were tested in a lab. Testing included subjective measures of parent alexithymic traits, child perceived impairment from victimization, and child- and parent-reported frequency of children’s peer victimization and internalizing and externalizing difficulties. Parents and children also completed an objective measure of emotion recognition. Both types of social bias significantly predicted reports of children’s peer victimization frequency as well as internalizing and externalizing difficulties, as rated by parents and children. Moreover, child perceived impairment bias, rather than parent emotion bias, best predicted differential reporting of peer victimization. Finally, a significant interaction demonstrated that the influence of child perceived impairment bias on differential reporting was most salient in the presence of parent emotion bias. This underscores the importance of expanding interventions for victimized youth to include the restructuring of social biases.
References
[1]
Kenrick, D.T. Evolutionary Theory and Human Social Behavior. In Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology; van Lange, P.M., Kruglanski, A.W., Higgins, E., Eds.; Sage Publications Ltd.: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2012; pp. 11–31.
[2]
Adrian, M.; Zeman, J.; Veits, G. Methodological implications of the affect revolution: A 35-year review of emotion regulation assessment in children. J. Exp. Child Psychol. 2011, 110, 171–197, doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2011.03.009.
[3]
Lomas, J.; Stough, C.; Hansen, K.; Downey, L.A. Brief report: Emotional intelligence, Victimisation and bullying in adolescents. J. Adolescence 2012, 35, 207–211, doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.03.002.
[4]
Trentacosta, C.J.; Fine, S.E. Emotion knowledge, social competence, and behavior problems in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic review. Soc. Dev. 2010, 19, 1–29, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00543.x.
[5]
Harper, B. Parents’ and children’s beliefs about peer victimization: Attributions, coping responses, and child adjustment. J. Early Adolescence 2012, 32, 387–413, doi:10.1177/0272431610396089.
[6]
R？nning, J.A.; Sourander, A.; Kumpulainen, K.; Tamminen, T.; Niemel？, S.; Moilanen, I.; Helenius, H.; Piha, J.; Almqvist, F. Cross-informant agreement about bullying and victimization among eight-year-olds: Whose information best predicts psychiatric caseness 10–15 years later? Soc. Psychiat. Psychiat. Epidem. 2009, 44, 15–22, doi:10.1007/s00127-008-0395-0.
[7]
Holt, M.; Kantor, G.K.; Finkelhor, D. Parent/child concordance about bullying involvement & family characteristics related to bullying & peer victimization. J. Sch. Violence 2009, 8, 42–63.
[8]
Iyer, R.V.; Kochenderfer-Ladd, B.; Eisenberg, N.; Thompson, M. Peer victimization and effortful control: Relations to school engagement and academic achievement. Merrill-Palmer Quart-J. Devel. 2010, 56, 361–387, doi:10.1353/mpq.0.0058.
[9]
Boyatzis, C.; Satyaprasad, C. Children’s facial and gestural decoding and encoding: Relations between skills and with popularity. J. Nonverbal. Behav. 1994, 18, 37–55, doi:10.1007/BF02169078.
[10]
Mathersul, D.; Palmer, D.; Gur, R.; Gur, R.E.; Cooper, N.; Gordon, E.; Williams, L. Explicit identification and implicit recognition of facial emotions: II. Core domains and relationships with general cognition. J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 2009, 31, 278–291, doi:10.1080/13803390802043619.
[11]
Nelson, C.A.; DeHaan, M. A Neurobehavioral Approach to the Recognition of Facial Expression in Infancy. In The Psychology of Facial Expression; Russell, J.A., Fernandez-Dols, J.M., Eds.; Cambridge University Press: New York, NY, USA, 1998; pp. 176–204.
[12]
Wiggers, M.; van Lieshout, C.F.M. Development of recognition of emotions: Children’s reliance on situational and facial expressive cues. Develop. Psychol. 1985, 21, 338–349, doi:10.1037/0012-1649.21.2.338.
[13]
Gnepp, J.; Hess, D.L.R. Children’s understanding of verbal and facial display rules. Dev. Psychopathol. 1986, 22, 103–108, doi:10.1037/0012-1649.22.1.103.
[14]
Collin, L.; Bindra, J.; Raju, M.; Gillberg, C.; Minnis, H. Facial emotion recognition in child psychiatry: A systematic review. Res. Develop. Disabil. 2013, 34, 1505–1520, doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.01.008.
[15]
Elam, K.K.; Carlson, J.M.; DiLalla, L.F.; Reinke, K.S. Genetic influences on the capture of spatial attention by emotional faces in 5-year-old twins. Evol. Psychol. 2010, 8, 754–767.
[16]
Bar-Haim, Y.; Lamy, D.; Pergamin, L.; Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J.; van IJzendoorn, M.H. Threat-related attentional bias in anxious and nonanxious individuals: A meta-analytic study. Psychol. Bull. 2007, 133, 1–24, doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.1.
[17]
Craig, W.M. The relationship among bullying, victimization, depression, anxiety, and aggression in elementary school children. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 1998, 24, 123–130, doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(97)00145-1.
[18]
Hodges, E.V.E.; Perry, D.G. Personal and interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 1998, 76, 677–685.
[19]
Luminet, O.; Lenoir, V. Parental alexithymia and emotional skills of children 3 to 5 years. Enfrance 2006, 58, 335–356, doi:10.3917/enf.584.0335.
[20]
Beaver, K.M.; Wright, J.P.; DeLisi, M.; Daigle, L.E.; Swatt, M.L.; Gibson, C.L. Evidence of a gene X environment interaction in the creation of victimization: Results from a longitudinal sample of adolescents. Int. J. Offend. Ther. Comp. Crimin. 2007, 51, 620–645, doi:10.1177/0306624X07304157.
[21]
Nansel, T.R.; Craig, W.; Overpeck, M.D.; Saluja, G.; Ruan, W.J. Cross-national consistency in the relationship between bullying behaviors and psychosocial adjustment. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 2004, 158, 730–736, doi:10.1001/archpedi.158.8.730.
[22]
Shojaei, T.; Wazana, A.; Pitrou, I.; Gilbert, F.; Kovess, V. Self-reported peer victimization and child mental health: Results of a cross-sectional survey among French primary school children. J. Develop. Behav. Pediat. 2009, 30, 300–309, doi:10.1097/DBP.0b013e3181ad1e1a.
[23]
Coie, J.D.; Dodge, K.A. Aggression and antisocial behavior. In Handbook of child psychology, Social, Emotional, and Personality Development, 5th ed.; Eisenberg, N., Damon, W., Eds.; John Wiley & Sons Inc: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 1998; Volume 3, pp. 779–862.
[24]
Putallaz, M.; Grimes, C.L.; Foster, K.J.; Kupersmidt, J.; Coie, J.D. Overt and relational aggression and victimization: Multiple perspectives within the school setting. J. Sch. Psychol. 2007, 45, 459–586, doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2007.06.007.
[25]
Crick, N.R.; Dodge, K.A. A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment. Psychol. Bull. 1994, 115, 74–101, doi:10.1037/0033-2909.115.1.74.
[26]
Vandiver, T.; Duran, J. Behavioral Correlates of Facial Recognition of Emotions in Children and Young Adolescents. In Advances in Psychology Research; Columbus, A., Ed.; Nova Science: Hauppage, NY, USA, 2006; pp. 91–114.
[27]
Flanagan, K.S.; Erath, S.A.; Bierman, K.L. Unique associations between peer relations and social anxiety in early adolescence. J. Clin. Child Adolesc. Psychol. 2008, 37, 759–769, doi:10.1080/15374410802359700.
[28]
Barth, J.; Bastiana, A. A longitudinal study of emotion recognition and preschool children’s social behavior. Merrill-Palmer Q. 1997, 43, 107–128.
[29]
Hawker, D.S.J.; Boulton, M.J. Twenty years’ research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. J. Child Psychol. Psychiat. 2000, 41, 441–455, doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00629.
[30]
Kim, Y.S.; Leventhal, B.L.; Koh, Y.-J.; Hubbard, A.; Boyce, W.T. School bullying and youth violence: Causes or consequences of psychopathologic behavior? Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 2006, 63, 1035–1041, doi:10.1001/archpsyc.63.9.1035.
[31]
McLaughlin, K.A.; Hatzenbuehler, M.L.; Hilt, L.M. Emotion dysregulation as a mechanism linking peer victimization to internalizing symptoms in adolescents. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 2009, 77, 894–904, doi:10.1037/a0015760.
[32]
Prinstein, M.J.; Boergers, J.; Vernberg, E.M. Overt and relational aggression in adolescents: Social-psychological adjustment of aggressors and victims. J. Clin. Child Psychol. 2001, 30, 479–491, doi:10.1207/S15374424JCCP3004_05.
[33]
Crick, N.R.; Bigbee, M.A. Relational and overt forms of peer victimization: A multiinformant approach. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 1998, 66, 337–347, doi:10.1037/0022-006X.66.2.337.
[34]
Dempsey, A.G.; Storch, E.A. Relational victimization: The association between recalled adolescent social experiences and emotional adjustment in early adulthood. Psychol. Sch. 2008, 45, 310–322, doi:10.1002/pits.20298.
[35]
Storch, E.A.; Ledley, D.R. Peer victimization and psychosocial adjustment in children: Current knowledge and future directions. Clin. Pediat. 2005, 44, 29–38, doi:10.1177/000992280504400103.
[36]
Goldbaum, S.; Craig, W.M.; Pepler, D.; Connolly, J. Developmental trajectories of victimization: Identifying risk and protective factors. J. Appl. Sch. Psychol. 2003, 19, 139–156, doi:10.1300/J008v19n02_09.
[37]
DiLalla, L.; Gheyara, S.; Bersted, K. The Southern Illinois Twins and Siblings Study (SITSS): Description and update. Twin Res. Hum. Genet. 2013, 16, 371–375, doi:10.1017/thg.2012.69.
[38]
Mynard, H.; Joseph, S. Development of the multidimensional peer victimization scale. Aggress. Behav. 2000, 26, 169–178, doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(2000)26:2<169::AID-AB3>3.0.CO;2-A.
[39]
Biebl, S.J.W.; DiLalla, L.F.; Davis, E.K.; Lynch, K.A.; Shinn, S.O. Chronicity of peer victimization is related to physical and mental health problems. J. Pediat. Psychol. 2011, 36, 868–877, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsr025.
[40]
Biebl, S.J.W. A Diathesis-Stress Model of Victimization: Relations among Temperament, Peer Victimization, Psychopathology, and Health Problems. PhD Dissertation, outhern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA, 15 August 2011.
[41]
Nowicki, S., Jr. Manual for the Receptive Tests of the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy 2 (DANVA2); Department of Psychology, Emory University: Atlanta, GA, USA, 2006.
[42]
Woods, S.; Wolke, D.; Nowicki, S.; Hall, L. Emotion recognition abilities and empathy of victims of bullying. Child Abuse Neglect. 2009, 33, 307–311, doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.11.002.
[43]
Bagby, R.M.; Parker, J.D.A.; Taylor, G.J. The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale—I: Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. J. Psychosom. Res. 1994, 38, 23–32, doi:10.1016/0022-3999(94)90005-1.
[44]
Bagby, R.; Taylor, G.; Quilty, L.; Parker, J. Reexamining the factor structure of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia scale: Commentary on gignac, palmer, and stough. J. Personal. Assess. 2007, 89, 258–264, doi:10.1080/00223890701629771.
[45]
Achenbach, T.M.; Rescorla, L.A. Manual for ASEBA Preschool Forms & Profiles; University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families: Burlington, VT, USA, 2000.
[46]
Goodman, R. Psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). J. Am. Acad. Child. Adolesc. Psychiatr. 2001, 40, 1337–1345, doi:10.1097/00004583-200111000-00015.
[47]
Goodman, A.; Lamping, D.L.; Ploubidis, G.B. When to use broader internalising and externalising subscales instead of the hypothesised five subscales on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): Data from British parents, teachers and children. J. Abnormal. Child Psychol. 2010, 38, 1179–1191, doi:10.1007/s10802-010-9434-x.
[48]
Goodman, R.; Scott, S. Comparing the strengths and difficulties questionnaire and the child behavior checklist: Is small beautiful? J. Abnormal. Child. Psychol. 1999, 27, 17–24, doi:10.1023/A:1022658222914.
[49]
Erdfelder, E.; Faul, F.; Buchner, A. GPOWER: A general power analysis program. Behav. Res. Methods Instrum. Comput. 1996, 28, 1–11, doi:10.3758/BF03203630.
