Gender Differences in the Effects of Peer Victimization on Psychological Distress Among Chinese Children: Mediation by Social Withdrawal and School Burnout

Abstract

Existing studies have suggested that school bullying is an important predictor of children’s psychological distress, but research on the indirect effect mechanisms of individual and school factors in the Chinese context is relatively limited. To fill the knowledge gap, this study attempts to explore the direct effect of peer victimization on children’s psychological distress and analyze the mediating roles of school burnout and social withdrawal, as well as gender difference. Data were obtained from a multistage cluster random sampling in Jiangsu Province. In this study, 1278 Chinese children aged 11–18 participated by completing self-report questionnaires. Results suggest that peer victimization is significantly positively correlated with children’s psychological distress. Social withdrawal and school burnout play a partial mediating role in the effect of peer victimization on children’s psychological distress. Moreover, significant gender difference exists in the effect of peer victimization on children’s psychological distress. The influence of peer victimization on female children’s psychological distress is greater than the males. This study underscores the importance of school and individual factors in influencing children’s psychological development in the Chinese context. These findings have implications for prevention and intervention efforts targeting bullied children.