California State University, Long Beach, Department of Human Development, Long Beach, California.
Missouri State University, Department of Psychology, Springfield, Missouri.
J Adolesc Health. 2018 Nov;63(5):554-560. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.05.026. Epub 2018 Aug 29.
Although it is well-established that higher weight status youth are at greater risk of peer victimization, it is unknown how weight status and victimization develop concurrently; thus, the current study examined the co-occurrence of weight status and victimization trajectories across early adolescence. Furthermore, the role of ethnicity, including a novel measure of individual-level ethnic diversity exposure at school, was evaluated.
Participants included 5,991U.S. boys and girls (52% female; 32% Latino; 20% white; 14% East/Southeast Asian; 12% African-American/black) from 26 urban middle schools. Participants self-reported height and weight as well as peer victimization across four timepoints from sixth to eighth grade. Survey data was collected between 2009 and 2014.
Growth mixture modeling identified five weight status groups (Low, Moderate, High, Decreasing, and Increasing) and four victimization groups (Low, High, Decreasing, and Increasing) trajectories. Parallel growth mixture modeling indicated that adolescents in the moderate weight status trajectory experienced the least amount of victimization; adolescents in the high weight status trajectory reported the highest levels of increasing and stable-high victimization. Moreover, higher weight status youth exposed to greater ethnic diversity at school were more likely to experience low victimization.
The study highlights the importance of belonging to a normative weight status trajectory for experiencing low peer victimization, yet also shows the large variability in the victimization experiences of higher weight status youth. Greater exposure to ethnic diversity at school appears to play a significant role in offsetting risk of victimization among higher weight status adolescents.
尽管已有研究充分证实，体重较高的青少年遭受同伴侵害的风险更大，但体重状况和受侵害程度如何同时发展还不得而知；因此，本研究考察了青少年早期体重状况和受侵害轨迹的同时发生情况。此外，还评估了种族的作用，包括学校中个体层面种族多样性暴露的新测量方法。
参与者包括来自 26 所城市中学的 5991 名美国男孩和女孩（52%为女性；32%为拉丁裔；20%为白人；14%为东亚/东南亚裔；12%为非裔/黑人）。参与者从六年级到八年级共四次自我报告身高和体重以及同伴受侵害情况。调查数据收集于 2009 年至 2014 年期间。
增长混合物模型确定了五个体重状况组（低、中、高、下降和增加）和四个受侵害组（低、高、下降和增加）轨迹。平行增长混合物模型表明，处于中度体重状况轨迹的青少年受侵害程度最低；处于高体重状况轨迹的青少年报告的受侵害程度最高，包括增加和稳定高受侵害。此外，在学校中接触到更高水平种族多样性的高体重状况青少年更有可能经历低水平的受侵害。
该研究强调了属于正常体重状况轨迹对经历低水平同伴受侵害的重要性，但也表明了高体重状况青少年受侵害经历的巨大可变性。在学校中接触到更多的种族多样性似乎在减轻高体重状况青少年受侵害的风险方面发挥了重要作用。
