Date of Graduation
12-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Psychology (MA)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Psychological Science
Advisor/Mentor
Cavell, Timothy A.
Committee Member
Bridges, Ana J.
Second Committee Member
Leen-Feldner, Ellen W.
Keywords
Psychology; Anxiety sensitivity; Bullying; Emotional avoidance; Peer victimization
Abstract
Chronic peer victimization has been linked to short- and long-term problems such as anxiety, depression, and aggression (Hawker & Bouton, 2000; Reijntjes, Kamphuis, Prinzie, & Telch, 2010; Reijntjes, Kamphuis, Prinzie, Boelen, van der Schoot, & Telch, 2011). Most children are able to escape the role of stable victim, but some struggle to end victimization and the negative trajectory associated with it. The present study explored individual differences in anxiety sensitivity and emotional avoidance, developmental vulnerabilities that heighten children’s risk for internalizing problems, as possible predictors of children’s level of peer victimization. Participants were 677 fourth-grade students and their teachers. Multi-informant path analysis were used to examine the degree to which these developmental vulnerabilities predict peer victimization in concert with or independent of children’s internalizing problems. Results found anxiety sensitivity or emotional avoidance were not directly related to peer victimization; however, anxiety sensitivity was related to internalizing symptoms, which in turn, were related to peer victimization.
Citation
Hernandez Rodriguez, J. (2015). Individual Differences in Anxiety Sensitivity and Emotional Avoidance: Potential Links in the Association between Internalizing Problems and Peer Victimization. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1384
