ABSTRACT
Although previous research has clearly demonstrated the existence of different participant roles in which individuals can be engaged in bullying incidents (e.g. Salmivalli, 2010; Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, Österman, & Kaukiainen, 1996), we still do not have much understanding of the interaction processes in which these roles of bullies, victims, their assistants and defenders, and bystanders are formed and maintained. What we know, however, is that, after the roles of bullies and victims have been established in preschool (Barker, Boivin et al., 2008), they tend to remain stable through elementary school (Biggs et al., 2010; Boivin, Petitclerc, Feng, Barker, & Delgadillo, 2010) to middle and high school (Barker, Arseneault, Brendgen, Fontaine, & Maughan, 2008; Bauman & Newman, 2013; Rosen, Beron, & Underwood, 2016; Schäfer, Korn, Brodbeck, Wolke, & Schulz, 2005; Sourander, Helstelä, Helenius, & Piha, 2000; Sumter, Baumgartner, Valkenburg, & Peter, 2012).
