Past Peer Victimization and Current Adult Attachment in College Students

The authors examined the potential long-term effects of peer victimization experiences during childhood on attachment quality in current adult relationships in a sample of 386 university students attending 2 northeastern universities. Findings included (a) no significant gender differences regarding verbal or relational peer victimization; (b) significant correlations between all forms of previous victimization; and (c) previous verbal and relational victimization predicting less stable adult attachments, with verbal victimization being more significant.