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Allocation of attention to scenes of peer harassment: Visual–cognitive moderators of the link between peer victimization and aggression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2018

Wendy Troop-Gordon Open the ORCID record for Wendy Troop-Gordon [Opens in a new window] ,
Robert D. Gordon ,
Bethany M. Schwandt ,
Gregor A. Horvath ,
Elizabeth Ewing Lee  and
Kari J. Visconti
Wendy Troop-Gordon*
Affiliation:
North Dakota State University
Robert D. Gordon
Affiliation:
North Dakota State University
Bethany M. Schwandt
Affiliation:
North Dakota State University
Gregor A. Horvath
Affiliation:
North Dakota State University
Elizabeth Ewing Lee
Affiliation:
Insight Research and Consulting
Kari J. Visconti
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Wendy Troop-Gordon, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, 203 Spidle Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849. E-mail: wpg0006@auburn.edu.
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Abstract

As approximately one-third of peer-victimized children evidence heightened aggression (Schwartz, Proctor, & Chien, 2001), it is imperative to identify the circumstances under which victimization and aggression co-develop. The current study explored two potential moderators of victimization–aggression linkages: (a) attentional bias toward cues signaling threat and (b) attentional bais toward cues communicating interpersonal support. Seventy-two fifth- and sixth-grade children (34 boys; Mage = 11.67) were eye tracked while watching video clips of bullying. Each scene included a bully, a victim, a reinforcer, and a defender. Children's victimization was measured using peer, parent, and teacher reports. Aggression was measured using peer reports of overt and relational aggression and teacher reports of aggression. Victimization was associated with greater aggression at high levels of attention to the bully. Victimization was also associated with greater aggression at low attention to the defender for boys, but at high attention to the defender for girls. Attention to the victim was negatively correlated with aggression regardless of victimization history. Thus, attentional biases to social cues integral to the bullying context differentiate whether victimization is linked to aggression, necessitating future research on the development of these biases and concurrent trajectories of sociobehavioral development.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 525 - 540
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

This research was supported by NIH Grant P20 GM103505. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences is a component of the NIH. The contents of this report are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the NIH or the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The authors would like to thank the school administrators, teachers, parents, and children who participated in this project.

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