Predictors of peer victimization among urban youth

This study examined aggression and withdrawal as predictors of peer victimi zation. In addition, peer rejection was evaluated as both a moderator and m ediator of these relations. The sample consisted of 1956 African-American, Hispanic, and White elementary school-aged boys and girls attending urban a nd inner-city schools that were classified as high or moderate disadvantage . Correlation and regression analyses revealed that aggresion predicted bot h contemporaneous and longitudinal victimization by peers. This relation ma intained across school disadvantage, ethnicity, age, and sex, and was media ted by rejection. Withdrawal, mediated by rejection, predicted victimizatio n for fourth graders only; withdrawal also reduced risk for victimization f or low rejected children. The implications for understanding the dynamics o f childhood victimization and intervention are discussed.