Peer Victimization, Self-esteem, and Ego Resilience Types in Adolescents: A Prospective Analysis of Person-context Interactions

This study examined bidirectional, longitudinal associations between peer victimisation and self-esteem in adolescents, and tested for moderator effects of undercontrolling, overcontrolling, and ego-resilient personality types in these associations. Data were used from 774 adolescents ages 11-16 years who participated in a three-wave (i.e., 2005, 2006, and 2007) longitudinal study. Structural equation modelling analyses in Mplus demonstrated that, controlling for earlier levels of self-esteem, self-reported peer victimization was associated with lower self-esteem across one-year time intervals. Vice versa, however, low self-esteem was not predictive of subsequent self-reported victimization. Evidence was also found for a moderator effect of personality type on the longitudinal associations between self-esteem and victimization. Only in the subgroup of overcontrolling adolescents was lower self-esteem related to subsequently higher levels of peer victimization; their undercontrolling and ego-resilient peers were unaffected.