Peer Attachment: A Mediation Relationship Between Peer Victimization, Anxiety, and Depression

Abstract

The study examined a mediation analysis of peer attachment, peer victimization, anxiety and depression at two different points. The proposed mediator was peer attachment which was hypothesized to be a protective, or resiliency factor in this study. First, it was hypothesized that the relationship between anxiety and depression at Time 1 with peer victimization at Time 2 would be mediated by peer attachment at Time 1. The second pathway studied, hypothesized the inverse; peer attachment at Time 1 would mediate the relationship between peer victimization at Time 1 with anxiety and depression at Time 2. The Baron and Kenny (1986) mediation model was used to examine both pathways with Pearson correlations. Results from the first pathway demonstrated that peer attachment mediates the relationship between previous anxiety and depression with future peer victimization. Results from the second pathway showed that peer attachment partially mediated the reverse pathway between previous peer victimization and depression. However, peer attachment completely mediated the relationship between peer victimization at Time 1 and anxiety at time 2. It can be concluded that peer attachment is a protective factor in relation to anxiety and depression symptoms and peer victimization. However, it may not be the only mediator and future studies can focus on other mechanisms and protective factors to prevent psychopathology as a result of peer victimization, and to prevent peer victimization as a result of psychopathology.