Teen Dating Violence, Sexual Harassment, and Bullying
Among Middle School Students: Examining Mediation
and Moderated Mediation by Gender
Stacey Cutbush
1
&
Jason Williams
2
&
Shari Miller
3
Published online: 9 August 2016
#
Society for Prevention Research 2016
Abstract This longitudinal study tested whether sexual ha-
rassment perpetration mediates the relationship between bully-
ing perpetration and teen dating violence (TDV) perpetration
and tested moderated mediation by assessing whether the de-
velopmental pathway varies by gender among middle school-
aged youth. Although TDV has been associated with bullying
and sexual harassment, the developmental relationship among
all three behaviors has rarely been examined, especially by
gender. The data were collected from one cohort of seventh
grade middle school students (N = 612) from four schools.
Students were surveyed every 6 months during seventh and
eighth grades for a total of four waves of data collection.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to address
the study aims, consisting of three stages: measurement
models, mediation, and moderated mediation (otherwise
known as Contrast of Mediated Effects). Results indicate no
evidence of mediation. However, in the overall model, bullying
and sexual harassment both emerged as significant predictors
of TDV at a later time point. Among girls, only bullying sig-
nificantly predicted TDVat a later time point, and, among boys,
only sexual harassment significantly predicted TDV at a later
time point. Prevention programs that target bullying and sexual
harassment perpetration may reduce later perpetration of TDV.
Further research is needed to disentangle the temporal relation-
ships between these aggressive behaviors among youth.
Keywords Bullying
.
Sexual harassment
.
Teen dating
violence
.
Gender
.
Adolescents
.
Longitudinal
Introduction
There is a great need for longitudinal research to assess tem-
porality of teen dating violence (TDV) relative to other forms
of aggression (Espelage 2011). This study uses longitudinal
data to investigate the potential developmental pathway
among three forms of aggression: the perpetration of bullying,
sexual harassment, and dating violence among adolescents in
middle school. Examining how aggressive behavior develops
and changes and how it differs by gender will better position
program developers and practitioners to more precisely target
and intervene in aggressive behaviors predictive of TDV.
The Developmental Life Span Perspective
A developmental life span perspective is useful when consider-
ing the context of aggressive behavior in early adolescence and
the interconnections among bullying, sexual harassment, and
dating violence. As children transition into adolescence, aggres-
sive behaviors may transform as young teens are faced with
new age-relevant challenges (Pepler et al. 2006). A number of
defining social processes shift during the transition to early ad-
olescence, including the composition of peer groups, emerging
romantic interests, and changing peer norms (Miller et al. 2013).
Early adolescence and transition to middle school bring
pivotal changes in social affiliations. Previously established
peer groups become destabilized as gender-segregated
* Stacey Cutbush
scutbush@rti.org
1
Drugs, Violence, and Delinquency Prevention Program, RTI
International, 1618 SW First Ave, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97201,
USA
2
Risk Behavior and Family Health Program, RTI International, 3040
E. Cornwallis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA
3
Drugs, Violence, and Delinquency Prevention Program, RTI
International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Drive, Research Triangle
Park, NC 27709, USA
Prev Sci (2016) 17:1024–1033
DOI 10.1007/s11121-016-0668-x
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera