Teacher Victimization Patterns Establishing a Group-Based Trajectory Approach to Assessing Predictors of Connectedness to School, Job Satisfaction, and Depression

Abstract

ABSTRACT Though extant research has contributed substantially to our understanding of teacher victimization, no attempt has been made to investigate whether there are distinctive patterns of victimization trajectories among teachers and trajectory subgroups are different on their job satisfaction, connectedness to school, and emotional distress. To address this limitation, the present research, using a longitudinal panel sample of middle and high school teachers in a metropolitan area in Texas, investigates the existence of distinctive patterns of teacher victimization trajectories and the relationship between those trajectories and their adverse effects. The findings demonstrate that a substantial proportion of teachers are continuously victimized and teachers who experience persistent victimization (mid/high stable victimized groups) are at elevated risk of disconnectedness to school, job dissatisfaction, and emotional distress.