Objective: To examine the relation between victimization by peers and child and parent reports of social-psychological adjustment.
Study design: The Social Experience Questionnaire, Children's Depression Inventory, Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised, and Asher Loneliness Scale were administered to 93 children diagnosed with various endocrine disorders. The child's parent/guardian completed the Child Behavior Checklist.
Results: For the entire sample, peer victimization was positively related to child-reported depression, social anxiety, loneliness, and parent-reported externalizing symptoms. Those children with endocrine disorders without observable features had a stronger relation between peer victimization and depression and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems than did those who had endocrine disorders with observable physical features.
Conclusions: Recognition of the magnitude of the problem and means of evaluating for peer victimization is important for clinicians who see children with chronic diseases.