WITHDRAWN: Peer Victimization and Substance Use: Understanding the Indirect Effect of Depressive Symptomatology across Gender

Introduction: Peer victimization in school has been documented as a significant stressor for youth that is associated with increased risk for mental and behavioral health outcomes, including depression, delinquency, low self-esteem, and reduced academic performance. There is also emerging evidence to suggest that peer victimization may increase risk for substance use. Yet, to date, limited research has been conducted examining underlying mechanisms within this risk pathway that can help inform intervention programming to prevent substance use and related health outcomes. The objective of this study was to use a prospective 3-wave design to examine the mediating role of depressive symptomatology on the relationship between peer victimization and substance use. Given evidence of gender differences within prevalence of peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and substance use outcomes, it is plausible that the proposed risk pathway varies by gender. Thus, a second aim of the study was to examine if the pathway operated similarly by gender.

Methods: 801 youth between 6^th and 12^th grade completed surveys across three years, which included measures on school peer victimization, depression symptomatology and substance use. A majority of the participants were female (n = 469, 58.6%), self-identified as White (n=578, 72.2%), and were in 6^th grade (n=349, 43.6%) at time 1 of the study. Structural equation modeling was conducted in Stata 13.0, using a maximum likelihood estimation for missing values, to examine the proposed pathways.

Results: Controlling for grade and the effect of each variable across waves, a significant indirect effect of peer victimization on substance use through depressive symptoms was found for females (b = .01, p = .03), with a non-significant indirect effect found for males (b = -.01, p = .25).

Conclusion: Results suggest that female youth who are victimized by peers engage in later substance use behaviors, at least in part, due to increases in depressive symptoms. Given the effect of peer victimization on depressive symptoms, female victims may benefit from coping skills training that targets emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills which may in turn decrease risk for substance use behaviors. Based on the non-significant effect found for male youth, additional research is warranted to better understand the risk pathway for male youth who experience peer victimization. Understanding outcomes related to peer victimization for male youth and mechanisms involved can help inform the development and implementation of interventions most appropriate for this population of youth.