ERIC Number: EJ1249947
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-May
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0272-4316
EISSN: N/A
Adolescent Sexual Harassment, Shame, and Depression: Do Experiences of Witnessing Harassment Matter?
Li, Joyce; Craig, Wendy M.
Journal of Early Adolescence, v40 n5 p712-737 May 2020
This preliminary study explored a person-group dissimilarity hypothesis in the context of adolescent sexual harassment. Theory suggests that victimized youth are expected to experience worse outcomes if they perceive victimization to be a rare experience among their peers. This study comprised 435 middle school students who reported on their experiences of sexual harassment (victimization and witnessing), shame, and depressive symptoms. We tested a cross-sectional conditional indirect-effects model, with shame mediating the relationship between victimization and depressive symptoms (the indirect effect) and with witnessing as a moderator of the indirect effect. For all students, shame mediated the relationship between victimization and depressive symptoms. For female students, there was a buffering effect of witnessing, whereby the indirect effect was weaker at high levels of witnessing. These findings have potential implications for theory and intervention, suggesting the importance of examining young people's social contexts to better understand their responses to sexual harassment.
Descriptors: Adolescents, Sexual Harassment, Victims, Middle School Students, Psychological Patterns, Depression (Psychology), Gender Differences, Experience, Context Effect, Social Environment, Peer Influence, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A