1991 1994 2000 Bullies, victims, and adjustment 1999 2003 bullies 1994 1999 1996 2000 victims 1997 1997 1993 1990 2000 2002 1994 2002 1998 1994 Stability in being a bully or a victim 1987 1983 1985 1992 1988 1997 1997 1994 1990 1997 1995 1998 1996 1987 2001 2003 Stability in being a bully or a victim, and adjustment 2003 1997 1993 1999 1991 2000 2004 2000 2001 The present study 1999 1999 1997 1999 1994 2003 1994 1994 1991 1997 1993 1987 1983 1992 1983 1999 2001 2000 2004 Method Participants 1992 t SD SD Procedure 1998 2001 1989 Measures Childhood measures (peer nominations) 1982 Bullying other children Being bullied Being liked being disliked Aggression ‘Disruption’ Cooperation Offering help’ Seeking help Shyness Being nominated as a friend Table 1 Intercorrelations among social adjustment measures in childhood  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. Being liked         2. Being disliked ***        3. Friend nominations *** ***       4. Aggression *** *** ***      5. Disruption ** *** *** ***     6. Cooperation *** *** *** *** ***    7. Shyness ** −.06 *** ** *** −.04   8. Offering help *** *** *** −.06 −.04 *** **  9. Help seeking −.05 .25 −.06 *** *** −.08 .09 .01 ** p *** p Table 2 Correlations between social adjustment measures in childhood and adolescence Adolescence childhood 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Insecurity 1. Being liked *** *** *** .01 −.06 *** *** ** 2. Being disliked *** *** ** *** *** *** −.05 .07 3. Friend nominations *** *** *** −.04 −.08 *** * * 4. Aggression .00 *** .02 *** *** ** *** .00 5. Disruption .01 *** .05 *** *** ** *** −.01 6. Cooperation *** *** * −.08 −.07 *** −.02 −.08 7. Shyness * −.00 * *** ** −.02 *** ** 8. Offering help *** * ** .06 .01 ** ** ** 9. Help seeking * .04 * −.03 −.01 .03 −.05 −.09 * p ** p *** p Adolescence measures (peer nominations) 1997 Bullying others Being bullied Being liked being disliked being nominated as a friend, aggression, disruption, cooperation, and shyness Insecurity 1 p 1983 p z 1990 1994 Results 2 r Classification of bullies, victims and non-involved children Bullying others Being bullied Bullying others Being bullied 1999 2003 n n n n n n 2 p 2 p n 2 N p 1973 n n n n n n n n 2 N p F p F p Table 3 Childhood and adolescent adjustment of childhood only, adolescence only, and stable bullies, and non-involved children  Bullies     n n n n F Partial eta squared Childhood Being liked b b a b * .03  Being disliked c a b a *** .38  Friend nominations b b a b * .03  Aggression b a c a *** .61  Disruption c b d a *** .49  Offering help .03 .11 −.10 .08 .49 .00  Cooperation a b a b *** .07  Shyness ab ab a b ** .03  Help seeking b a a a * .02 Adolescence        Being liked .35 .11 −.18 .14 2.31 .02  Being disliked a b b a *** .23  Friend nominations .28 .11 −.05 .12 .86 .01  Aggression a b c a *** .45  Disruption a b c a *** .26  Cooperation b a a b *** .05  Shyness a a a b *** .05  Insecurity −.16 −.14 −.21 −.01 1.01 .01 Note. z * p ** p *** p Social adjustment of bullies in childhood 1 F p 3 Table 4 Childhood and adolescent adjustment of childhood only, adolescence only, and stable victims, and non-involved children  Victims     n n n n F Partial eta squared Childhood  Being liked a ab a b *** .07  Being disliked b a c a *** .25  Friend nominations a ab a b *** .06  Aggression b a b a *** .11  Disruption −.13 −.48 −.19 −.36 1.53 .01  Offering help a ab a b * .03  Cooperation a b a b *** .05  Shyness .40 .12 .42 .06 1.42 .01  Help seeking b a c a *** .07 Adolescence  Being liked b a a c *** .08  Being disliked a b b a *** .17  Friend nominations b a a b *** .08  Aggression −.28 −.25 −.29 −.34 .09 .00  Disruption −.26 .05 .04 −.26 2.12 .02  Cooperation ab a a b *** .05  Shyness a b b a *** .13  Insecurity a ab b a ** .04 Note. z * p ** p *** p Social adjustment of bullies in adolescence F p p 3 Social adjustment of victims in childhood F p 4 Social adjustment of victims in adolescence F p 4 4 F p F p Discussion The findings of our study give insight into the peer perceived behavioral profiles of children who were bullies or victims for a restricted period of time and those who were involved over a period of three years. They show that stable bullies and victims displayed a behavioral pattern in childhood and adolescence that clearly distinguished them from the children whose bullying or victimization was restricted to childhood. The latter did not show social adjustment problems later in adolescence, while the former did. Children who were victimized only in adolescence showed similar signs of social maladjustment in adolescence as children who were consistently victimized. 1998 1998 bullies 1997 1987 1991 1999 2004 1996 1987 2003 2002 1999 1994 1994 1998 1987 1987 1985 1992 1983 2001 2000 2000 1987 2000 2004 2001 2000 2003 1999 2002 1994 n 1994 2003 Despite these caveats the present investigation shows that it is highly relevant for future scientific research on bullying, victimization, and adjustment to distinguish between children who are only involved in childhood or adolescence, and those who are chronically involved from childhood into adolescence. The positive message of our study is that many of the childhood victims and bullies did not seem to show social adjustment problems in adolescence, as perceived by their peers. The more troublesome message is that between 40 and 50% of the childhood bullies and victims will continue to be involved in bullying in adolescence. These children are the ones who are likely to display peer perceived social behavioral problems in adolescence. However, while this study is among the first to examine the behavioral profiles of stable and transient bullies and victims, this suggestion may be premature, and more research on the stability of bullying and victimization is needed.