Bidirectional Associations Between Relational and Physical Peer Victimization and Sleep Disturbance Among Boys and Girls in Late Childhood.

Children victimized by their peers and those with sleep disturbances are at risk for developing an array of difficulties and disorders. While there is some evidence suggesting that sleep impacts peer victimization and peer victimization results in sleep disturbance, the longitudinal bidirectional associations between peer victimization and sleep disturbance have been understudied, particularly in late childhood. Further, gender differences in these associations are largely unknown. To further understand these links, 175 children (ages 8-11, M = 9.30, 51.4% girls) in grades 3-5 completed measures of peer victimization and sleep disturbance. Physical victimization at Time 1 significantly predicted sleep disturbance 6 months later at Time 2, while sleep disturbance at Time 1 showed a marginally statistically significant association with later physical victimization 6 months later, suggesting a potential bidirectional relationship. Relational victimization was not longitudinally related to sleep or vice versa. Results also suggest similar effects for boys and girls. Implications of these findings are offered.