ABSTRACT
The study investigated the contributions of the individual and social factors in determining loneliness in pre-adolescents and adolescents who perceived by their classmates had been experiencing peer victimization. The individual factors involved self-esteem and temperament. The temperament itself was measured in four factors, which were surgency, effortful control, affiliativeness, and negative affectivity. The measured social factors were peer acceptance, the quality of friendship, and parenting style. Participants were 146 fifth (pre-adolescents, M = 9.74 years old) and 184 ninth grade (adolescents, M = 13.5 years old) students whose according their classmates had been victimized in classroom/ school setting.
There were negative correlations between peer-report victimization intensity and peer acceptance found in each group participants. Further, regression analysis found significant differences of how the individual and social factors determining loneliness in each group. Self esteem was the only variable in the individual factor which significantly contributed to loneliness in peer-perceived victimized pre-adolescents. Self esteem itself was positively related with effortful control and affiliativeness factors of temperament.
In peer perceived victimized adolescent group, however, the surgency factor of the temperament (individual factors) together with having nurtured parents and good quality of friendship (social factors) were found to contribute negatively to the self-reported loneliness.
Small contribution of self esteem to the variability of loneliness in pre-adolescents, however, cautiously indicated that there were other factors which were not included in the study.
(To be presented in the 2nd convention of APsyA, 26-28 June 2008, Kuala Lumpur)
