Browsing by Author "Purcell, Victoria"

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    The Relationship Among and Between Social-Cognitive Variables, Peer Victimization, and Anxiety in School Aged Children
    (2017) Purcell, Victoria; Andrews, Jac; Harker Martin, Brittany; Makarenko, Erica
    Internalizing challenges, such as anxiety, have been found to be a one of the many adverse outcomes associated with peer victimization in middle childhood. The current study extends the literature by examining the relationship among and between peer victimization, social cognitive variables (i.e., peer perceptions and social self-efficacy), and anxiety among school aged children and youth aged 12 to 15. Specifically, this study assessed the predictive nature of peer victimization on anxiety symptoms and looked at whether peer perceptions and social self-efficacy were mediators and moderators of this relationship respectively. Participants included 81 school aged children (female: 52, male: 29; M age: 12.78). Results showed that reports of peer victimization predicted the severity of anxious symptoms, and children’s beliefs about their school peers influenced this relationship. Further, there were overall differences between different types of victimization (overt, relational, and reputational) and anxiety symptoms in youth. These results further demonstrate the importance of addressing peer victimization within Canadian schools and this should be considered in the treatment of anxiety among youth.
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    Understanding the Path to Sub-Clinical Anxiety Among Female Adolescents: The Role of Caregiver Anxiety and Peer Rejection
    (2022-11-17) Purcell, Victoria; Andrews, Jac; McMorris, Carly; Nordstokke, David
    Anxiety has been identified as one of the most common groups of mental health concerns among adolescents worldwide. Experts have pointed to a number of possible explanations related to the origins of anxiety; however, issues concerning anxiety’s risk factors continue to be tempered by often unsystematic and fragmented models related to adolescent anxiety. Although valuable, these findings fail to capture the dynamic interactions among multiple risk factors that may characterize the frequency of anxiety symptoms, potentially negating early-intervention supports. To address this gap, the current study examined the interaction and path among individual (e.g., physical health complaints, avoidance) and environmental (e.g., parent/caregiver anxiety, peer rejection) contributing factors of anxiety symptoms in 167 adolescent girls between 11 and 18 years of age without a history of a previous or current mental health disorder (SD= 2.01; M = 14.70) and their primary caregiver. Analysis of the full model revealed a relatively poor model fit, with the CFI only demonstrating acceptable model fit indices 2 (df = 3) 17.58, p = 0.001; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.84 RMSEA = 0.17 SRMR = 0.06. The current study offers initial evidence that supports theoretical assumptions suggesting that many anxiety risk factors are interconnected, and how together, a range of vulnerabilities and their relation among one another are associated to anxiety. Further implications of the findings, as well as recommendations for future research, are included.