Gifted individuals tend to experience social stressors similar to their not-gifted peers, yet minimal research has been conducted on the potential impact of early social difficulties on their later adjustment. The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between early experiences of peer victimization and later well-being in honors college students and the potential moderating effect of social support on this relationship. Three research questions were posed: What is the difference in reported early peer victimization between honors college students and non-honors college students; what is the relationship between early experiences of peer victimization and later well-being of gifted and not-gifted college students, with respect to age, gender, and ethnicity differences; and does early social support serve to moderate the relationship between early peer victimization and later well-being in gifted and not-gifted students? Completed data from a total of 78 honors and 68 non-honors college student participants, attending 1 of 2 four-year universities in the southeastern region of the United States, were analyzed. Early experiences of peer victimization, current well-being, and early perception of social support were measured utilizing the Retrospective Bullying Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being, and a revised version of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale, respectively. The ages of student participants ranged from 18-33 years of age. Data was collected for this study between Summer and Fall 2016. A chi-square test of independence, MANOVA, and MANCOVA were utilized to investigate the study's research questions. Results indicated that gifted students reported more early experiences of relational forms of peer victimization than not-gifted students. For both groups, White/Caucasian, Black/African-American, and Asian/Pacific Islander participants and those with early experiences of bullying showed variation in scores of well-being. Significant interaction effects suggested that early social support from teachers and close friends moderated the relationship between early experiences of victimization and later well-being. A discussion regarding the interpretation, limitations, implications of the obtained findings, along with needs for future research, is provided. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2017. / April 14, 2017. / Includes bibliographical references. / Steven I. Pfeiffer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Christine A. Readdick, University Representative; Debra Osborn, Committee Member; Angel Canto, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_550632 |
| Contributors | Saintil, Marcia (authoraut), Pfeiffer, Steven I. (professor directing dissertation), Readdick, Christine A. (university representative), Osborn, Debra S., 1968- (committee member), Canto, Angela I. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (218 pages), computer, application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.009 seconds