Bidirectional Associations between Perpetration of Bullying and Physical/Sexual Teen Dating Violence in Middle School Youth.

Objective: Bullying and Teen Dating Violence (TDV) perpetration are major public health concerns for middle school youth. Previous research indicates bullying perpetration predicts future TDV perpetration; however, the potential bidirectional associations between bullying and TDV have not been fully explored. The current study evaluated bidirectional, longitudinal associations between bullying and TDV perpetration in middle school youth.

Method: Cross-lagged panel models were used to evaluate bidirectional associations for bullying and TDV perpetration in middle school youth (n =1,840; M = 12.16 years, SD = 0.42) across three time points, 6 months apart, starting at the fall of 7^th grade and ending in the fall of 8^th grade.

Results: Findings indicated bullying perpetration and TDV perpetration demonstrated stability across time. Across all three waves, bullying perpetration at one time point consistently predicted TDV perpetration at the subsequent time point (medium effect sizes). TDV perpetration at T1 predicted bullying perpetration at T2 (medium effect size), and TDV perpetration at T2 did not substantially predict bullying perpetration at T3 (small effect size).

Conclusion: Findings indicate once middle school youth initiate bullying or TDV, they tend to persist in this behavior. Findings suggest all peer relationships (including friends and dating partners) may serve as training grounds for each other, with youth who learn violence perpetration is effective in one type of relationship (e.g., dating) transferring this behavior to others (e.g., friendship). Findings support the need for cross-cutting violence interventions that target both bullying and TDV simultaneously.