Victimized in Many Ways: Online and Offline Bullying/Harassment and Perceived Racial Discrimination in Diverse Racial-Ethnic Minority Adolescents

Objectives: Racial-ethnic minority youth face multiple types of victimization associated with negative developmental outcomes. The present study examined the interplay of youth experiences of online and offline bullying/harassment and racial-ethnic discrimination across three waves. Methods: Racial-ethnic minority adolescents aged 10-19 (N = 735) at Midwest schools were surveyed yearly on Internet usage and experiences, mental well-being, and related risk and protective factors. We analyzed offline and online bullying/harassment, offline and online racial-ethnic discrimination, and time online in an autoregressive cross-lagged panel model. Results: Youth who reported more of one type of victimization also reported more of other victimization types and more time online concurrently. Our results show some (but not consistent) influences over time. Youth who experienced more offline bullying/harassment at wave 1 were more likely to report more wave 2 victimization in another context (online bullying/harassment) and in other content (offline racial-ethnic discrimination), although these associations did not appear in the second wave. Youth who reported more online bullying/harassment at wave 2 also experienced increased risk for offline bullying/harassment at wave 3. Youth who reported more time online were not more likely to experience later victimization, though youth who experienced more wave 1 offline bullying/harassment were more likely to report more next-wave time online. Conclusions: Racial-ethnic minority youth simultaneously and persistently face multiple types of victimization. Offline bullying/harassment interventions may have the added benefit of reducing other forms of victimization down the road, while reducing time online alone is unlikely to protect youth. Public Significance Statement We examined multiple types of victimization and time spent online at three yearly surveys in racial/ethnic minority adolescents. We found that youth simultaneously experienced bullying/harassment and racial-ethnic discrimination both offline and online, they continued to be victimized in the same way over multiple years, those who reported experiencing more offline bullying/harassment at the first survey reported more offline discrimination and more online bullying/harassment the next wave, and time online was related concurrently, but not over time, to victimization. Our results suggest that interventions for offline bullying/harassment might prevent other type