Introduction

Welcome to my blog.

I am currently a graduate student working on a dissertation that will research the long term effects of bullying on the victims. Who do the victims become in adulthood and what impact did the victimization have on the choices made in adulthood. Most people can point to anecdotal examples, i.e. the skinny/obese child who became a bodybuilder/martial arts expert or the “ugly duckling” who underwent plastic surgery to become the beautiful swan, but is that the norm or outliers?

At this point in my search I haven’t found much research covering this topic or information about support for adults who were victimized as children.

It is my hope that out of my research I will be able to not only open doors to further research in this area, but also uncover replicateable interventions that can be used to help those children currently suffering from victimization and hopefully to launch support group and treatment methods for those adults who were victimized.

As I read through the different journal articles, Masters thesis’s, Doctoral dissertations, published books, and intervention programs I will post my thoughts, comments, and critiques. I welcome any constructive input from the readers, as well as any stories of your personal experiences that you don’t mind sharing. I do want to note, that while it is my hope that anyone reading this site will benefit from it, this site is in no way a replacement for therapy, is not a formal support group or therapy group, and I am in no way your therapist.

This forum offers NO CONFIDENTILITY.

If you would like further information on finding support in your area, I would be more than happy to help you look, though at this point my searches haven’t turned up a whole lot.

That all being said, it is now time for me to begin.

Thank you sincerely,

R. Brian Salinas, MA
Psy.D. (candidate)

Friday, February 27, 2009

Review of the Article: A Longitudinal Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Indirect and Physical Aggression: Evidence of Two factors Over time?

Vaillancourt, T।, Brendgen, M., Boivin, M., and Tremblay, R. E. (2003)

Vaillancourt, Brendgen, Boivin, Tremblay (2003) conducted a study to examine whether physical aggression was distinct from indirect aggression across the developmental periods। The study also examined the longitudinal predictive links between direct physical aggression and indirect aggression (Vaillancourt, Brendgen, Boivin, Tremblay, 2003). Vaillancourt, et al (2003) looked at 3,089 children over three different age groups (4-7 years old, 6-9 years old, and 8-11 years old); with 1540 of the participants being boys and 1549 being girls. The information about the children was obtained from the child’s mother and gathered using five questions about indirect aggressive behavior and three questions covering aggressive behavior (Vaillancourt, et al, 2003). The mothers were asked to rate the questions on a 3-point Likert scale: often/very true; sometimes/somewhat true; and never/not true Vaillancourt, et al, 2003). Vaillaincourt, et al (2003) reported that the stability rates suggested the use of aggression was persistent for both boys and girls, despite increases in social cognitive skills. This means, physically aggressive children tended to remain physically aggressive where as children engaging in indirect aggression tended to remain indirectly aggressive (Vaillancourt, et al, 2003).

The study was conducted with a strong sample size of 3,084; however, the study was only done on students in Canada and the authors provide no information concerning the ethnic or socioeconomic breakdown of the participants। The geographic limitations and the lack of ethnic and socioeconomic disclosure limits the studies applicability to the general population. Additionally, the rating of the children’s behaviors was done by the mothers, whom may not have actual knowledge of the child’s true behaviors at school. The study’s results would have been strengthened had Vailliancourt, et al (2003) included reports from school personnel, thus providing a more 360 degree of the child. A further weakness of the study is the fact that while the researchers covered a significant span, ranging from 4-11 years old, the study only covers the elementary school years and does not include children in adolescents. As such the results aren’t indicative of what can be expected when the child enters middle school.

While the study has strong heuristic value and includes a significantly large sample population, the weakness (i।e. lack of geographic diversity, reporting ethnic or socioeconomic breakdown, collecting data only from mothers, and limited time span coverage) hinder the studies usefulness. If the study were re-conducted with these weaknesses addressed, then the results would be more significant and helpful in the planning of anti-bullying intervention programs.

Vaillancourt, T., Brendgen, M., Boivin, M., and Tremblay, R. E. (2003). A Longitudinal Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Indirect and Physical Aggression: Evidence of Two factors Over time? Child Development, Vol 74, Num 1, pp 1628-1638

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