Cross-sectional quantitative designs are often used to investigate whether peer victimization
is positively related to psychosocial maladjustment. This paper presents a meta-analytic
review of cross-sectional studies, published between 1978 and 1997, of the association of peer
victimization with psychosocial maladjustment. Mean effect sizes were calculated for the
association between peer victimization and each form of maladjustment (depression,
loneliness, generalized and social anxiety, and global and social self-worth) assessed. The
results suggested that victimization is most strongly related to depression, and least strongly
related to anxiety. There was no evidence that victimization is more strongly related to social
than to psychological forms of maladjustment. Effect sizes were stronger when the same
informants were used to assess both victimization and maladjustment than when different
informants were used. There were some design limitations to the studies reviewed, but all
together their results provide a strong background for more complex research into the course
and treatment of victims' distress.