Students with poor reading skills and reading difficulties (RDs) are at
elevated risk for bullying involvement in elementary school, but it is
not known whether they are at risk also later in adolescence. This study
investigated the longitudinal interplay between reading skills (fluency
and comprehension), victimization, and bullying across the transition
from elementary to middle school, controlling for externalizing and
internalizing problems. The sample consists of 1,824 students (47.3%
girls, T1 mean age was 12 years 9 months) from 150 Grade 6 classrooms,
whose reading fluency and comprehension, self-reported victimization and
bullying, and self-reported externalizing and internalizing problems
were measured in Grades 6, 7, and 9. Two cross-lagged panel models with
three time-points were fitted to the data separately for reading fluency
and comprehension. The results indicated that poorer fluency and
comprehension skills in Grade 6 predicted bullying perpetration in Grade
7, and poorer fluency and comprehension skills in Grade 7 predicted
bullying perpetration in Grade 9. Neither fluency nor comprehension were
longitudinally associated with victimization. The effects of reading
skills on bullying perpetration were relatively small and externalizing
problems increased the risk for bullying others more than poor reading
skills did. However, it is important that those who struggle with
reading get academic support in school throughout their school years,
and social support when needed.