Stability of victimization in elementary school children

The stability of victimization (and of related variables, such as aggression and rejection) was explored over a two-year period. Subjects were 135 elementary school children (third through sixth graders) who were given the Victimization and Aggression Inventory (VAI) as well as a sociometric status measure. Two years later the measures were readministered. All three variables (victimization, aggression, and rejection) were found to be moderately stable over the two-year period, but stability varied with measure and with cohort (grade of child at first testing). Aggression was stable for all four cohorts whereas victimization was stable only for the older cohorts. Partial correlations revealed that the stability of victimization, but not aggression, was dependent to a large degree on children's rejection scores. Hierarchical regression analyses yielded evidence consistent with the hypothesis that rejection causes victimization.