Examining co-occurring and pure relational and physical victimization in early childhood

•Results support a bifactor model of victimization.•Boys' co-occurring victimization was negatively associated with asocial behavior.•Girls' relational victimization was negatively associated with asocial behavior.•Girls' co-occurring victimization was positively associated with depressed affect.•Girls' co-occurring victimization was positively associated with anxious behavior.

The current study took a novel approach to examining peer victimization experiences on a continuum in early childhood. A bifactor approach was used to examine co-occurring victimization as well as the relative contribution of subtypes of victimization, including both physical and relational victimization. To date, no known research has examined co-occurring victimization in early childhood. The fit of a bifactor model, as well as the utility of the model in testing associations with internalizing problems, was examined. The short-term longitudinal study (N = 231; 109 girls; Mage = 47.46 months, SD = 7.35) found support for a hierarchical structure of victimization, including co-occurrence and “pure” victimization dimensions, in early childhood. Regression analyses supported that both co-occurring victimization and relational victimization were associated with internalizing adjustment outcomes. These associations differed by gender. A bifactor model may be a useful statistical technique to address the common finding of co-occurrence of victimization to better understand peer harassment experiences and risk for adjustment problems.