Authors:
Moore SE, Scott JG, Thomas HJ, Sly PD, Whitehouse AJO, Zubrick SR, et al.
Authors notes:
J Adolesc. 2015;43:39-49.
Keywords:
Adolescent, Bullying, Education, Employment, Peer aggression, Raine study
Abstract:
This study used prospective birth cohort data to analyse the relationship between peer aggression at 14 years of age and educational and employment outcomes at 17 years (N=1091) and 20 years (N=1003).
Participants from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) study were divided into mutually exclusive categories of peer aggression.
Involvement in peer aggression was reported by 40.2% (10.1% victims; 21.4% perpetrators; 8.7% victim-perpetrators) of participants.
Participants involved in any form of peer aggression were less likely to complete secondary school.
Perpetrators and victim-perpetrators of peer aggression were more likely to be in the 'No Education, Employment or Training' group at 20 years of age.
This association was explained by non-completion of secondary school.
These findings demonstrate a robust association between involvement in peer aggression and non-completion of secondary school, which in turn was associated with an increased risk of poor educational and employment outcomes in early adulthood.