Developmental Changes in the Relationships Between Depressive Symptoms and Bullying Victimization From Early to Middle Adolescence: A Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analysis

03/08/2026

AI Summary

Cross-lagged panel network analyses show symptom-level associations between depressive symptoms and forms of victimisation vary from early to middle adolescence.
Longitudinal results are more consistent with the scar theory than the interpersonal risk model; depressive symptoms tend to predict later victimisation.
Predictive symptoms shift developmentally: early adolescence ineffectiveness, negative self-esteem, and anhedonia predict overt and covert victimisation; middle adolescence anhedonia chiefly predicts covert victimisation.

AI Summary

Associations between depressive symptoms and bullying victimization have been widely studied during adolescence.

In the cross-sectional networks, interpersonal problems were associated with physical victimization and negative self-esteem with relational victimization in early adolescence; interpersonal problems and anhedonia were associated with relational victimization in middle adolescence.

The depressive symptoms predicting later victimization shifted from ineffectiveness, negative self-esteem, and anhedonia predicting both overt and covert victimization in early adolescence to anhedonia predominantly predicting covert victimization in middle adolescence.

Basic summary

J Youth Adolesc. 2026 Aug 3. doi: 10.1007/s10964-026-02398-7. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Associations between depressive symptoms and bullying victimization have been widely studied during adolescence. However, little is known about how specific depressive symptoms relate to different forms of bullying victimization across developmental stages. The study therefore used cross-lagged panel network analyses to examine these dimension-level associations. A total of 1,288 participants (48.4% girls; M_age at T1 = 13.02, SD = 0.64) completed four-wave surveys at six-month intervals. In the cross-sectional networks, interpersonal problems were associated with physical victimization and negative self-esteem with relational victimization in early adolescence; interpersonal problems and anhedonia were associated with relational victimization in middle adolescence. The cross-lagged networks were more consistent with the scar theory than with the interpersonal risk framework. The depressive symptoms predicting later victimization shifted from ineffectiveness, negative self-esteem, and anhedonia predicting both overt and covert victimization in early adolescence to anhedonia predominantly predicting covert victimization in middle adolescence. These findings indicate that prevention efforts should consider specific depressive symptoms and victimization forms at different stages of adolescence.

PMID:42545456 | DOI:10.1007/s10964-026-02398-7

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