Internalizing Symptoms and Social Aggression Victimization among Early Adolescent Girls: Where Does Academic Achievement Fit In?

Katie Sylvester

Social experiences are increasingly meaningful to girls in late childhood and early adolescence. Studies focused on girls have demonstrated a clear relationship between aggression victimization and the internalization of problems (e.g., depression). However, gaps remain in understanding the direction of the effects and whether experience of strength in one domain (e.g., achievement) protects against difficulties in another (e.g., social relationships). With a sample of ethnically diverse, fifth grade girls (N=100), the current study applies a developmental science and risk and resilience framework across one academic year to examine the predictive relationship between self-reported depressive symptoms and peer-reported victimization. Furthermore, this study investigated the unique contribution of academic skills (i.e., teacher reported scores of students’ achievement in reading, writing, and math) in depressive symptoms, and whether achievement moderates the relationship between depressive symptoms and victimization. Preliminary results indicate moderate correlations between depressive symptoms and victimization within and across time, with fall depressive symptoms predicting spring victimization after controlling for levels of fall victimization. Implications for developmental science and school intervention are discussed.