The relations between bullying exposures in middle childhood, anxiety, and adrenocortical activity

Jo Lynn V. Carney; Richard J. Hazler; Insoo Oh; Leah C. Hibel; Douglas A. Granger

doi:10.1080/15388220903479602

The relations between bullying exposures in middle childhood, anxiety, and adrenocortical activity

Jo Lynn V. Carney, Richard J. Hazler, Insoo Oh, Leah C. Hibel, Douglas A. Granger

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

This exploratory study investigated how exposure to bullying at school in middle childhood is associated with student anxiety levels and adrenocortical activity at a time preceding lunch when anxiety about potential bullying would potentially be higher. Ninety-one sixth-grade students (55 female and 36 male) reported being exposed one or more times to repetitive peer abuse as victims and/or bystanders, and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) provided a measure of general anxiety levels. Students' degree of exposure to bullying and their anxiety levels were compared to salivary cortisol indicating a stress reaction of the body via hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Analysis confirmed the hypothesis that bullying exposure had an influence on levels of cortisol, but only through its relationship with general anxiety. The amount of combined bullying exposure from victimization and bystanding was related to lower cortisol levels at a time when the potential for bullying was about to increase.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	194-211
Number of pages	18
Journal	Journal of School Violence
Volume	9
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220903479602
State	Published - Apr 2010

Keywords

Anxiety
Bullying exposure
Cortisol
HPA axis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

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10.1080/15388220903479602

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title = "The relations between bullying exposures in middle childhood, anxiety, and adrenocortical activity",

abstract = "This exploratory study investigated how exposure to bullying at school in middle childhood is associated with student anxiety levels and adrenocortical activity at a time preceding lunch when anxiety about potential bullying would potentially be higher. Ninety-one sixth-grade students (55 female and 36 male) reported being exposed one or more times to repetitive peer abuse as victims and/or bystanders, and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) provided a measure of general anxiety levels. Students' degree of exposure to bullying and their anxiety levels were compared to salivary cortisol indicating a stress reaction of the body via hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Analysis confirmed the hypothesis that bullying exposure had an influence on levels of cortisol, but only through its relationship with general anxiety. The amount of combined bullying exposure from victimization and bystanding was related to lower cortisol levels at a time when the potential for bullying was about to increase.",

keywords = "Anxiety, Bullying exposure, Cortisol, HPA axis",

author = "Carney, {Jo Lynn V.} and Hazler, {Richard J.} and Insoo Oh and Hibel, {Leah C.} and Granger, {Douglas A.}",

note = "Funding Information: Received September 8, 2008; accepted November 11, 2009. This research was supported by the Child Youth and Families Consortium and College of Education at Pennsylvania State University. Address correspondence to JoLynn V. Carney, Counselor Education, Pennsylvania State University, 327 CEDAR Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. E-mail: jcarney@psu.edu Copyright: Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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doi = "10.1080/15388220903479602",

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AU - Granger, Douglas A.

N1 - Funding Information: Received September 8, 2008; accepted November 11, 2009. This research was supported by the Child Youth and Families Consortium and College of Education at Pennsylvania State University. Address correspondence to JoLynn V. Carney, Counselor Education, Pennsylvania State University, 327 CEDAR Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. E-mail: jcarney@psu.edu Copyright: Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2010/4

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N2 - This exploratory study investigated how exposure to bullying at school in middle childhood is associated with student anxiety levels and adrenocortical activity at a time preceding lunch when anxiety about potential bullying would potentially be higher. Ninety-one sixth-grade students (55 female and 36 male) reported being exposed one or more times to repetitive peer abuse as victims and/or bystanders, and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) provided a measure of general anxiety levels. Students' degree of exposure to bullying and their anxiety levels were compared to salivary cortisol indicating a stress reaction of the body via hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Analysis confirmed the hypothesis that bullying exposure had an influence on levels of cortisol, but only through its relationship with general anxiety. The amount of combined bullying exposure from victimization and bystanding was related to lower cortisol levels at a time when the potential for bullying was about to increase.

AB - This exploratory study investigated how exposure to bullying at school in middle childhood is associated with student anxiety levels and adrenocortical activity at a time preceding lunch when anxiety about potential bullying would potentially be higher. Ninety-one sixth-grade students (55 female and 36 male) reported being exposed one or more times to repetitive peer abuse as victims and/or bystanders, and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) provided a measure of general anxiety levels. Students' degree of exposure to bullying and their anxiety levels were compared to salivary cortisol indicating a stress reaction of the body via hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Analysis confirmed the hypothesis that bullying exposure had an influence on levels of cortisol, but only through its relationship with general anxiety. The amount of combined bullying exposure from victimization and bystanding was related to lower cortisol levels at a time when the potential for bullying was about to increase.

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The relations between bullying exposures in middle childhood, anxiety, and adrenocortical activity

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