Prospective Association Between Peer Victimization and Left-Behind Adolescents’ Loneliness: The Moderating Role of Sympathetic Nervous System Activity

Abstract

This study explored the prospective association between peer victimization and left-behind adolescents’ loneliness and investigated the moderating role of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity as well as potential differences in left-behind status and gender. A total of 471 Chinese adolescents (50.1% boys; M_age = 13.43 years, SD = 0.47) completed measures of peer victimization, SNS activity (indexed by skin conductance level reactivity, SCLR), and loneliness at Time 1. Loneliness was reassessed six months later (Time 2). The results revealed that T1 peer victimization was positively associated with T2 loneliness. SCLR was positively associated with subsequent loneliness only among boys from both-parent migrant families. Additionally, lower SCLR buffered the association between T1 peer victimization and T2 loneliness only among adolescents from father-only migrant families. These findings indicate that the interaction patterns between peer victimization and SNS activity in relation to subsequent loneliness vary depending on adolescents’ left-behind status.

Keywords

left-behind adolescents peer victimization loneliness sympathetic nervous system activity gender

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abaied

J. L.

Stanger

S. B.

Wagner

Sanders

Dyer

W. J.

Padilla-Walker

(2018). Parasympathetic and sympathetic reactivity moderate maternal contributions to emotional adjustment in adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 54(9), 1661–1673. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000507

Aiken

L. S.

West

S. G.

(1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions: Sage.

Asher

S. R.

Hymel

Renshaw

P. D.

(1984). Loneliness in children. Child Development, 55(4), 1456–1464. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130015

Baker

Baibazarova

Ktistaki

Shelton

K. H.

Van Goozen

S. H. M.

(2012). Development of fear and guilt in young children: Stability over time and relations with psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 24(3), 833–845. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579412000399

Benito-Gomez

Fletcher

A. C.

Buehler

(2019). Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system functioning and experiences of peer exclusion: Links to internalizing problems in early adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47(4), 633–644. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0472-0

Buecker

Petersen

Neuber

Zheng

Hayes

Qualter

(2024). A systematic review of longitudinal risk and protective factors for loneliness in youth. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1542(1), 620–637. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15266

Cacioppo

J. T.

Hawkey

L. C.

(2009). Perceived social isolation and cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(10), 447–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2009.06.005

Cao

Xiang

Yang

Peng

(2020). Bullying victimization and suicidal ideation among Chinese left-behind children: Mediating effect of loneliness and moderating effect of gender. Children and Youth Services Review, 111(3), Article 104848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104848

Chaplin

T. M.

Aldao

(2013). Gender differences in emotion expression in children: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 139(4), 735–765. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030737

10.

Chen

Wang

Liu

(2014). Loneliness in Chinese children across contexts. Developmental Psychology, 50(10), 2324–2333. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037689

11.

Chen

Zeng

Gong

Zhang

Wan

Tao

Sun

(2019). Associations between early life parent-child separation and shortened telomere length and psychopathological outcomes during adolescence. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 103(1), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.021

12.

Cleary

(2022). Emotional constraint, father-son relationships, and men’s wellbeing. Frontiers in Sociology, 7(1), Article 868005. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.868005

13.

Dong

Zhou

Hou

Zhao

Wei

(2020). The relationship between peer victimization and aggression in stay-behind junior secondary school students: A chain multiple mediation model. Psychological Development and Education, 36(5), 615–623. https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2020.05.13

14.

Eagly

A. H.

Karau

S. J.

Makhijani

M. G.

(1995). Gender and the effectiveness of leaders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 117(1), 125–145. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.1.125

15.

Ellemers

(2018). Gender stereotypes. Annual Review of Psychology, 69(1), 275–298. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011719

16.

Ellis

B. J.

Boyce

W. T.

Belsky

Bakermans-Kranenburg

M. J.

van Ijzendoorn

M. H.

(2011). Differential susceptibility to the environment: An evolutionary-neurodevelopmental theory. Development and Psychopathology, 23(1), 7–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579410000611

17.

El-Sheikh

(2005). The role of emotional responses and physiological reactivity in the marital conflict-child functioning link. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(11), 1191–1199. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.00418.x

18.

El-Sheikh

Erath

S. A.

(2011). Family conflict, autonomic nervous system functioning, and child adaptation: State of the science and future directions. Development and Psychopathology, 23(2), 703–721. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579411000034

19.

Erath

S. A.

El-Sheikh

Cummings

E. M.

(2009). Harsh parenting and child externalizing behavior: Skin conductance level reactivity as a moderator. Child Development, 80(2), 578–592. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01280.x

20.

Erath

S. A.

K. M.

(2018). Electrodermal reactivity moderates the prospective association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 47(6), 992–1003. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1197838

21.

Fellmeth

Rose-Clarke

Zhao

Busert

L. K.

Zheng

Massazza

Sonmez

Eder

Blewitt

Lertgrai

Orcutt

Ricci

Mohamed-Ahmed

Burns

Knipe

Hargreaves

Hesketh

Opondo

Devakumar

(2018). Health impacts of parental migration on left-behind children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet, 392(10164), 2567–2582. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(18)32558-3

22.

Fung

A. L. C.

(2021). Sex differences in the relationships between forms of peer victimization and reactive and proactive aggression in schoolchildren. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), Article 5443. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105443

23.

Ghardallou

Mtiraoui

Ennamouchi

Amara

Gara

Dardouri

Zedini

Mtiraoui

(2024). Bullying victimization among adolescents: Prevalence, associated factors and correlation with mental health outcomes. PLoS One, 19(3), Article e0299161. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299161

24.

Hubbard

J. A.

Smithmyer

C. M.

Ramsden

S. R.

Parker

E. H.

Flanagan

K. D.

Dearing

K. F.

Relyea

Simons

R. F.

(2002). Observational, physiological, and self-report measures of children’s anger: Relations to reactive versus proactive aggression. Child Development, 73(4), 1101–1118. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00460

25.

Kirschbaum

Pirke

K. M.

Hellhammer

D. H.

(1993). The “Trier Social Stress Test” - A tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology, 28(1), 76–81. https://doi.org/10.1159/000119004

26.

Jones

Francis

Robidoux

Mcarthur

(2024). Physiological correlates of anxiety in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Stress and Health, 40(4), Article e3388. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3388

27.

Lee

K. S.

Wolke

Baernighausen

Ouermi

Bountogo

Harling

(2024). Sexual victimisation, peer victimisation, and mental health outcomes among adolescents in Burkina Faso: A prospective cohort study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 11(2), 134–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00399-1

28.

Lerner

R. M.

(2006). Developmental science, developmental systems, and contemporary theories of human development. Damon

Lerner(editors-in-chief)

R. M.

Lerner(vol

R. M.

(Eds.)., Handbook of child psychology. Theoretical models of human development, 1, 1–17.

29.

Zou

Liu

(2014). Psychometric evaluation of loneliness scale in Chinese middle school students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 22(4), 731–760. https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2014.04.037

30.

Liang

Chen

Xiong

Wang

Ren

(2023). Profiles and transitions of non-suicidal self-injury and depressive symptoms among adolescent boys and girls: Predictive role of bullying victimization. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52(8), 1705–1720. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01779-6

31.

Lyu

Xiong

Wang

Yang

Chen

Ren

(2025). Why rejection sensitivity leads to adolescents’ loneliness: Differential exposure, reactivity, and exposure-reactivity models. Journal of Adolescence, 97(1), 137–147. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12405

32.

Matud

M. P.

(2004). Gender differences in stress and coping styles. Personality and Individual Differences, 37(7), 1401–1415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2004.01.010

33.

McEwen

B. S.

Stellar

(1993). Stress and the individual: Mechanisms leading to disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 153(18), 2093–2101. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.153.18.2093

34.

Menard

(2002). Longitudinal Research (76). Sage.

35.

Monroe

S. M.

Simons

A. D.

(1991). Diathesis-stress theories in the context of life stress research: Implications for the depressive disorders. Psychological Bulletin, 110(3), 406–425. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.110.3.406

36.

Murray-Close

(2013). Psychophysiology of adolescent peer relations II: Recent advances and future directions. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23(2), 260–273. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00831.x

37.

Mynard

Joseph

(2000). Development of the multidimensional peer-victimization scale. Aggressive Behavior, 26(2), 169–178. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(2000)26:2<169::AID-AB3>3.0.CO;2-A

38.

National Bureau of Statistics of China, UNICEF China, & UNFPA China . (2023). What the 2020 census can tell us about children in China: Facts and figures. https://www.unicef.cn/en/reports/population-status-children-china-2020-census

39.

Philbrook

L. E.

Erath

S. A.

Hinnant

J. B.

El-Sheikh

(2018). Marital conflict and trajectories of adolescent adjustment: The role of autonomic nervous system coordination. Developmental Psychology, 54(9), 1687–1696. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000501

40.

Post

R. M.

(1992). Transduction of psychosocial stress into the neurobiology of recurrent affective disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149(8), 999–1010. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.149.8.999

41.

Rutter

(2007). Implications of resilience concepts for scientific understanding. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1376.002

42.

Scarpa

(2015). Physiological arousal and its dysregulation in child maladjustment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(5), 345–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415588920

43.

Sentse

Prinzie

Salmivalli

(2017). Testing the direction of longitudinal paths between victimization, peer rejection, and different types of internalizing problems in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45(5), 1013–1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0216-y

44.

Shangguan

Zhao

(2025). Parent–child separation, communication and the developmental trajectory of depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 54(8), 1959–1973. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-025-02153-4

45.

Sheikh

Payne-Cook

Lisk

Carter

Brown

J. S. L.

(2025). Why do young men not seek help for affective mental health issues? A systematic review of perceived barriers and facilitators among adolescent boys and young men. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(2), 565–583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-024-02520-9

46.

Shek

D. T. L.

(2003). Economic stress, psychological well-being and problem behavior in Chinese adolescents with economic disadvantage. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(4), 259–266. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023080826557

47.

Smith

Sánchez

G. F. L.

Haro

J. M.

Alghamdi

A. A.

Pizzol

Tully

M. A.

Gibson

Keyes

Butler

Barnett

Shin

J. I.

Koyanagi

(2023). Temporal trends in bullying victimization among adolescents aged 12-15 years from 29 countries: A global perspective. Journal of Adolescent Health, 73(3), 582–590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.04.031

48.

Wagner

C. R.

Abaied

J. L.

(2016). Skin conductance level reactivity moderates the association between parental psychological control and relational aggression in emerging adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(4), 687–700. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0422-5

49.

Wang

Xin

Zhang

Liu

Yang

Zhang

(2025). Developmental interactions between peer victimization and depressive symptoms in adolescents: A latent change score analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 37(1), 207–221. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423001529

50.

Wang

Gao

Yang

Zhao

Wang

(2020). Parental phubbing and adolescents’ depressive symptoms: Self-esteem and perceived social support as moderators. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(2), 427–437. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01185-x

51.

Wen

Lin

(2012). Child development in rural China: Children left behind by their migrant parents and children of nonmigrant families. Child Development, 83(1), 120–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01698.x

52.

Chen

Yin

(2023). The impact of peer victimization on Chinese left-behind adolescent suicidal ideation: The mediating role of psychological suzhi and the moderating role of family cohesion. Child Abuse & Neglect, 141(4), Article 106235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106235

53.

Xiao

Lin

(2024). Trajectories of peer victimization among left-behind children in rural China: The role of positive school climate. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 34(3), 818–830. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12950

54.

Xiong

Wang

Liu

(2019). Peer victimization, maternal control, and adjustment problems among left-behind adolescents from father-migrant/mother caregiver families. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 12(1), 961–971. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S219249

55.

Yang

Chen

Cao

Chen

Zhang

(2020). Peer victimization during early adolescence: Person centered analysis. Psychological Development and Education, 36(2), 146–156. https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2020.02.03

56.

Zhao

Wang

Lin

Zhang

(2019). Latent profile analysis of left-behind adolescents’ psychosocial adaptation in rural China. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(6), 1146–1160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-00989-1

57.

Zhao

Liu

Wang

(2015). Parent-child cohesion, friend companionship and left-behind children’s emotional adaptation in rural China. Child Abuse & Neglect, 48, 190–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.07.005

58.

Zhao

Liu

Wang

(2025). Does parent-child separation in childhood influence individuals’ depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood? The roles of sympathetic nervous system activity and beliefs about adversity. Emerging Adulthood, 13(2), 424–436. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968241299852

59.

Zhao

Sun

Shangguan

(2024). Childhood psychological maltreatment and social anxiety in college students: The roles of parasympathetic nervous system activity and parent-child separation experience. Child Abuse & Neglect, 151, Article 106723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106723

60.

Zhu

Xiao

Chen

Zhu

(2020). Health effects of repeated victimization among school-aged adolescents in six major cities in China. Child Abuse & Neglect, 108(1), Article 104654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104654