Can school climate or peer preference moderate the adjustment difficulties associated with peer victimization among Chinese middle school students?

Abstract

Most research on peer victimization has focused on Western samples, but in recent years peer victimization in China has become more prevalent. As a result, limited information is available on how peer victimization, school climate, peer preference, and adjustment difficulties impact Chinese middle school students. This cross-sectional study explored these relations. With a sample of 734 7th and 8th-grade students (54.1% male, 45.8% female) from two middle schools in Beijing, China, findings revealed that peer victimization and peer preference predicted adjustment difficulties; however, school climate did not. Although peer preference was not a significant moderator of the association between peer victimization and adjustment difficulties, school climate significantly moderated the relation between relational peer victimization and adjustment difficulties. Limitations, future directions, and implications are further discussed.

Keywords

peer victimization peer preference adjustment school climate Chinese middle school students

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bao

Zhang

Wang

(2015). School climate and delinquency among Chinese adolescents: Analyses of effortful control as a moderator and deviant peer affiliation as a mediator. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(1), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9903-8

Bear

G. G.

Gaskins

Blank

Chen

(2011). Delaware school climate survey—student: Its factor structure, concurrent validity, and reliability. Journal of School Psychology, 49(2), 157–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2011.01.001

Bear

G. G.

Yang

Harris

Mantz

Hearn

Boyer

(2016). Technical manual for 2016 Delaware school survey: Scales of school climate; bullying victimization; student engagement; positive, punitive, and social emotional learning techniques; and the Delaware social and emotional competencies scale. Newark, DE: Center for Disabilities Studies, 1–217.

Bronfenbrenner

Morris

P. A.

(2006). The bioecological model of human development. In Lerner

R. M.

Damon

(Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (pp. 793–828). John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Casper

D. M.

Card

N. A.

(2017). Overt and relational victimization: A meta–analytic review of their overlap and associations with social–psychological adjustment. Child Development, 88(2), 466–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12621

Chan

H. C. O.

Wong

D. S.

(2015). Traditional school bullying and cyberbullying in Chinese societies: Prevalence and a review of the whole-school intervention approach. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 23(1), 98–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.05.010

Cheng

Newman

I. M.

Mbulo

Chai

Chen

Shell

D. F.

(2010). Being bullied and psychosocial adjustment among middle school students in China. Journal of School Health, 80(4), 193–199. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2009.00486.x

Coie

J. D.

Dodge

K. A.

(1983). Continuities and changes in children's social status: A five-year longitudinal study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly (1982–), 29(3), 261–282. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23086262

Eslea

Menesini

Morita

O'Moore

Mora-Merchán

J. A.

Pereira

(2004). Friendship and loneliness among bullies and victims: Data from seven countries. Aggressive Behavior, 30(1), 71–83. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20006

10.

Gini

Holt

Pozzoli

Marino

(2019). Victimization and somatic problems: The role of class victimization levels. Journal of School Health, 90(1), 39–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12844

11.

Gorman

A. H.

Schwartz

Nakamoto

Mayeux

(2011). Unpopularity and disliking among peers: Partially distinct dimensions of adolescents’ social experiences. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 32(4), 208–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2011.05.001

12.

Holfeld

Baitz

(2020). The mediating and moderating effects of social support and school climate on the association between cyber victimization and internalizing symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(11), 2214–2228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01292-0

13.

Huang

Hong

J. S.

Espelage

D. L.

(2013). Understanding factors associated with bullying and peer victimization in Chinese schools within ecological contexts. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22(7), 881–892. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9647-4

14.

Ivarsson

Broberg

A. G.

Arvidsson

Gillberg

(2005). Bullying in adolescence: Psychiatric problems in victims and bullies as measured by the Youth Self Report (YSR) and the Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS). Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 59(5), 365–373. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039480500227816

15.

Kaltiala-Heino

Rimpelä

Rantanen

Rimpelä

(2000). Bullying at school—an indicator of adolescents at risk for mental disorders. Journal of Adolescence, 23(6), 661–674. https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2000.0351

16.

Kumpulainen

Räsänen

(2000). Children involved in bullying at elementary school age: Their psychiatric symptoms and deviance in adolescence: An epidemiological sample. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24(12), 1567–1577. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(00)00210-6

17.

Leadbeater

B. J.

Sukhawathanakul

Thompson

Holfeld

(2015). Parent, child, and teacher reports of school climate as predictors of peer victimization, internalizing and externalizing in elementary school. School Mental Health, 7(4), 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-015-9154-z

18.

(2005). Mind or virtue: Western and Chinese beliefs about learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(4), 190–194. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00362.x

19.

Litwack

S. D.

Aikins

J. W.

Cillessen

A. H. N.

(2012). The distinct roles of sociometric and perceived popularity in friendship: Implications for adolescent depressive affect and self- esteem. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 32(2), 226–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431610387142

20.

Long

Zhou

(2020). Relational victimization and internalizing problems: Moderation of popularity and mediation of popularity status insecurity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(3), 724–734. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01177-x

21.

National School Climate Council (2007). The school climate challenge: Narrowing the gap between school climate research and school climate policy, practice guidelines and teacher education policy. https://schoolclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/school-climate-challenge-web.pdf.

22.

Olenik-Shemesh

Heiman

Eden

(2012). Cyberbullying victimisation in adolescence: Relationships with loneliness and depressive mood. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 17(3-4), 361–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2012.704227

23.

Olweus

(2001). Peer harassment: A critical analysis and some important issues. In Juvonen

Graham

(Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 3–20). Guilford Press.

24.

Rose

M. G.

(1985). Back-translating to recover form. International Journal of Translation, 31(1), 6–11.

25.

Salmivalli

(2018). Peer victimization and adjustment in young adulthood: Commentary on the special section. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 46(1), 67–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-017-0372-8

26.

Swearer

S. M.

(2001). The Bully Survey. Unpublished manuscript. Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Nebraska, United States.

27.

Swirsky

J. M.

Xie

(2021). Peer-related factors as moderators between overt and social victimization and adjustment outcomes in early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(2), 286–297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01313-y

28.

Waasdorp

T. E.

Pas

E. T.

O’Brennan

L. M.

Bradshaw

C. P.

(2011). A multilevel perspective on the climate of bullying: Discrepancies among students, school staff, and parents. Journal of School Violence, 10(2), 115–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2010.539164

29.

Wang

Boyanton

Ross

A. S. M.

Liu

J. L.

Sullivan

Anh Do

(2018). School climate, victimization, and mental health outcomes among elementary school students in China. School Psychology International, 39(6), 587–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034318805517

30.

Wang

La Salle

K. A.

Sullivan

K. E.

(2018). School climate and parental involvement buffer the risk of victimization on suicidal thoughts and behavior among Asian American middle school students. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 9(4), 296–307. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000138

31.

Wang

La Salle

Liu

J. L.

(2021). Do parental involvement and adult support matter for students’ suicidal thoughts and behavior in high school? School Psychology Review, 51(3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2021.1873058

32.

Wang

Liu

J. L.

Zhu

Yao

Boyanton

(2020). Covitality moderates the relationship between victimisation and loneliness. Australian Journal of Psychology, 73(1), 34–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1904494

33.

Werth

J. M.

Nickerson

A. B.

Aloe

A. M.

Swearer

S. M.

(2015). Bullying victimization and the social and emotional maladjustment of bystanders: A propensity score analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 53(4), 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.05.004

34.

Xie

Bear

Yang

Marshall

Gong

(2016). Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of Delaware bullying victimization scale-student. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 23(4), 594–596. https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2021.04.010

35.

Yang

Bear

G. G.

Chen

F. F.

Zhang

Blank

J. C.

Huang

(2013). Students’ perceptions of school climate in the US and China. School Psychology Quarterly, 28(1), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000002

36.

Yang

Sharkey

J. D.

Reed

L. A.

Chen

Dowdy

(2018). Bullying victimization and student engagement in elementary, middle, and high schools: Moderating role of school climate. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(1), 54–64. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000250

37.

Yin

Xue

Zhang

Liao

(2021). Analysis of Beijing’s population situation. In Yin

Xue

Dong

(Eds.), Blue book of Beijing population: Report on Beijing’s population development in 2021 (pp. 1–21). Social Sciences Academic Press(China).

38.

Zhao

(2005). Character education in China today. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 17(3), 11–14.