Emotional Impact of Teasing Moderates the Association Between Teasing Frequency and Self-Worth in Youth.

BULLYING & psychology; EMOTIONS; FACTOR analysis; MATHEMATICAL models; RESEARCH evaluation; SELF-perception; THEORY; AFFINITY groups; STRUCTURAL equation modeling; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; CHILDREN

The purpose of the present study was to examine the moderating role of emotional impact on the relationship between teasing frequency and self-worth in a community sample of youth. Participants included a community sample of 405 youth (M age = 10.22) who completed self-report measures of the frequency and emotional impact of teasing and self-worth. Latent moderated structural equation modeling indicated that emotional impact moderated the association between teasing frequency and self-worth (β = −.15, p = .04). Probing of the interaction revealed that among youth who experienced frequent teasing, self-worth was lower when emotional impact was high (β = −.25, t = 2.34, p = .02). Findings demonstrate that emotional impact moderated the relationship between teasing frequency and self-worth. Intervention designed to reduce teasing and its associated negative outcomes may benefit from intervention components designed to address the emotional impact of teasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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