Aggressive school troublemakers and victims: A longitudinal model examining the pivotal role of self-concept

Aggressive Troublemaker (getting into physical fights, getting into trouble, being seen as a troublemaker, and being punished for getting into trouble) and Victim (being threatened with harm, not feeling safe) factors were related to 3 components of self-concept (General, Same Sex, and Opposite Sex) based on the large, nationally representative National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 database. At 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade levels, Troublemaker and Victim constructs were reasonably stable over time and moderately positively correlated (many students were both troublemakers and victims). The Victim factor was negatively correlated with self-concept and had negative effects on subsequent self-concept. Whereas the Troublemaker factor was also correlated somewhat negatively with self-concept, it had small positive effects on subsequent self-concept: Low self-concept may trigger troublemaking behavior in a possibly successful attempt to enhance subsequent self-concept. Although boys had higher Troublemaker and Victim scores than did girls, the effects of these constructs on subsequent self-concepts were similar for boys and girls.