Longitudinal associations between childhood victimization and neuroticism from middle childhood to early adolescence.

BACKGROUND

Previous cross-sectional and unidirectional longitudinal studies have identified positive associations between childhood victimization and neuroticism in children. However, these studies have not simultaneously examined multiple common sources of childhood victimization (family abuse, teacher abuse, and peer victimization) in relation to neuroticism nor have they distinguished between- and within-person effects. Moreover, the moderating role of child sex in their associations has yet to be fully evaluated.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the within-person longitudinal associations between three common sources of childhood victimization and neuroticism in Chinese children and whether these effects differed between boys and girls.

PARTICIPANTS AND

SETTING

The sample included 4315 children (55.1 % boys) with an average age of 9.93 (SD = 0.73) years from a large city in China.

METHODS

Participants completed self-report measures on five occasions across two years, employing six-month intervals. Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models (RI-CLPMs) were used to distinguish between-person and within-person effects.

RESULTS

Results included: (a) Family abuse (excluding sexual abuse) and peer victimization directly predicted subsequent increases in neuroticism at the within-person level and vice versa, whereas teacher abuse and neuroticism did not reveal significant longitudinal relations at the within-person level; (b) The effect of family abuse on neuroticism at the within-person level was stronger in boys, while the effect of peer victimization on neuroticism at the within-person level was stronger in girls.

CONCLUSIONS

Prevention and intervention strategies targeting high neuroticism and childhood victimization should consider the roles of both family and peer systems.