Since little is known about the relationship between the recency and duration of teacher victimization and teacher of thoughts about quitting the teaching profession, related job dissatisfaction, and disconnectedness to school, the current study analyzed data from a longitudinal study of 1,236 U.S. teachers to address these issues.
Prior research indicates that student aggression against teachers is widespread, and it has negative impacts on victimized teachers of emotional and physical well-being and job performance. The current study found that many teachers experienced theft/vandalism and sexual harassment victimization within just 1 year. In addition, sizeable proportions of teachers experienced verbal abuse and nonphysical contact aggression that occurred over 2 years. Multiple regression analyses showed that teachers who reported recent or multiyear victimization had lower levels of connectedness to school, less job satisfaction, and more thoughts about ending their teaching careers. These results may indicate that unless victimization recurs, negative effects of victimization are contemporaneous and are less likely to persist. Additional research is needed to examine victimization over longer than 2 years and the effects of the frequency of different types of aggression against teachers. In addition, research should identify school policies and interventions that weaken the connection of victimization to negative outcomes. (publisher abstract modified)