1 - (SYM 14) Peer Victimization, Depression, and Anxiety in Hispanic Youth During the Transition to High School: The Mediating Roles of Sleep Problems and Repetitive Negative Thinking

Peer victimization (PV) contributes to anxiety and depression in adolescents. Hispanic youth have been understudied in PV research, and are at high risk of school dropout, making them an especially important population to study. The transition to high school is marked by increases in PV and may be an ideal period for elucidating its effects on anxiety and depression. Understanding mediators linking PV with anxiety and depression is critical for identifying potential treatment and prevention targets in youth. PV is related to both sleep problems and repetitive negative thinking (RNT), which in turn predict depression and anxiety in youth. However, no studies have examined the two mediators together, and the directionality of effects is unclear, though a bidirectional relationship is likely. The current study examined the effects of PV on anxiety and depression symptoms via sleep problems and RNT among Hispanic youth across their first year of high school.
475 Hispanic adolescents completed measures of relational and reputational PV, sleep problems, and RNT at the beginning of the school year (T1), sleep problems and RNT mid-year (T2), and depression, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety symptoms at the end of the year (T3). Structural equation modeling examined the sequential mediating pathway between T1 PV, T1 sleep problems, T2 RNT, and T3 symptoms, along with the sequential mediating pathway between T1 PV, T1 RNT, T2 sleep problems, and T3 symptoms.
Results revealed a good model fit (χ2 = 139.29, p < .001, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .05, SRMR = .04), and indicated a significant direct effect of T1 relational victimization on T3 symptoms. Findings also revealed an indirect effect of T1 relational PV on T3 symptoms via T1 sleep problems and T2 RNT (ß = .05, p < .001), along with an indirect effect via T1 RNT and T2 sleep problems (ß = .03, p = .01). Results also indicated an indirect effect of T1 reputational PV on T3 symptoms via T1 sleep problems and T2 RNT (ß = .02, p = .04).
Findings indicate that PV, particularly relational peer victimization, is significantly related to future anxiety and depression symptoms via both sleep problems and RNT, highlighting two potential intervention targets. Because neither sleep problems nor RNT appear to temporally precede the other, strategies addressing sleep and RNT are both important. However, given the significant direct effects of relational victimization, our findings suggest that interventions must also target reducing peer victimization directly, perhaps through social skills training or interpersonal approaches.