Developmental Relations Between Peer Victimization, Emotional Symptoms, and Disability/Chronic Condition in Adolescence: Are Within- or Between-Person Factors Driving Development?

Although there is a link between peer victimization, emotional symptoms, and disability or chronic condition in adolescence, less is known about the role of stable, individual differences compared to developmental processes. The current study addressed this gap by examining developmental relations between peer victimization, emotional symptoms, and disability or chronic condition. Three waves of self-report panel data on Swedish adolescents at ages 13, 15, and 17 years (n = 734; 51.6% girls) were used. Data were analyzed using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models with invariance tests by sex, disability/chronic condition, and family affluence. Girls and adolescents with a disability or chronic condition showed more heterogeneity in the co-development of peer victimization and emotional symptoms, with girls being more prone than boys to developing emotional symptoms following peer victimization, and particularly in early adolescence. Girls and adolescents with a disability or chronic condition had elevated within-person levels of both peer victimization and emotional symptoms throughout adolescence. Theory and practice may need to pay additional attention to the role of sex, disability, and their intersection, as well as age, regarding the development of peer victimization and emotional symptoms.