Bullying behaviors, as exhibited by left-behind children (LBC) in China, occur commonly. Parental supervision and support, as well as friendship networks, have previously been verified as crucial aspects in determining the bullying behaviors of LBC. However, evidence of the interactive effect of these vital factors is sparse, and puppy love, which is inevitable among school-age children, is seldom investigated. The current study aimed to examine the roles of parental supervision and support as well as peers in puppy love in LBC bullying behaviors by means of a moderated mediation model. The data were derived from 28 counties/districts across China. We used data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) of 3,252 junior high school students. A moderated mediation model was conducted by PROCESS procedure in Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) and the bootstrapping method was performed for inference test. The moderated mediation analysis showed that left-behind status was associated with bullying behaviors displayed by school-age students. Parental supervision and support mediated this association; furthermore, the mediation effects were dependent on the number of friends in puppy love. In particular, as the number of friends in puppy love increased, the mediating effect of parental supervision weakened, whereas the mediating effect of parental support became stronger. These results revealed the importance of parental support and supervision and peers in puppy love in shaping bullying behaviors among LBC. Future bullying prevention and intervention should promote parental supervision and support among LBC in rural China, especially those with many friends in puppy love.
AmezcuaL. C.GarciaF. J.Gonzalez-FortezaC.VelezN. A. M.IcazaM. E. M. M. (2016). Relationship between parent supervision and anti-social behavior in juvenile offenders from the state of Morelos. Salud Mental, 39(1), 11–17.
3.
CantorM. (1979). Neighbors and friends: An overlooked resource in the informal support system. Research on Aging, 1, 434–463.
4.
CassidyT. (2009). Bullying and victimization in school children: The role of social identity, problem solving style, and family and school context. Social Psychology of Education, 12, 63–76.
5.
ChengY.NewmanI. M.QuM.MbuloL.ChaiY.ChenY.ShellD. F. (2010). Being bullied and psychosocial adjustment among middle school students in China. Journal of School Health, 80(4), 193–199.
6.
DevineD. (2013). “Value”ing children differently? Migrant children in education. Children & Society, 27(4), 282–294.
7.
FarringtonD. P. (1994). Childhood, adolescent, and adult features of violent males. In HuesmannL. R. (Ed.), Aggressive behavior: Current perspective (pp. 215–240). Plenum Press.
8.
FlouriE.BuchananA. (2003). The role of mother involvement and father involvement in adolescence bullying behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18(6), 634–644.
9.
FloydK.HessJ. A.MiczoL. A.HaloneK. K.MikkelsonA. C.TusingK. J. (2005). Human affection exchange: VIII. Further evidence of the benefits of expressed affection. Communication Quarterly, 53, 285–303.
10.
FriedmanM. M. (1993). Social support sources and psychological well-being in older women with heart disease. Research in Nursing & Health, 16, 405–413.
11.
GaoY.LiL. P.KimJ. H.CongdonN.LauJ.GriffithsS. (2010). The impact of parental migration on health status and health behaviours among left behind adolescent school children in China. BMC Public Health, 10(1), Article 56.
12.
GeorgeD.MalleryP. (2003). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference (4th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
13.
GeorgiouN. S. (2008). Parental style and child bullying and victimization experiences at school. Social Psychology of Education, 11, 213–227.
14.
GrahamE.JordanL. P. (2011). Migrant parents and the psychological well-being of left-behind children in Southeast Asia. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73, 763–787.
15.
HaoL.YuX. (2015). Rural-urban migration and children’s access to education: China in comparative perspective. Background paper for the EFA Global Monitoring Report. UNESCO. http://acwf.people.com.cn/n/2013/0510/c9901321437965.html
16.
HayesA. F. (2015). An index and test of linear moderated mediation. Multivariate Behavior Research, 50(1), 1–22.
17.
JiaZ.TianW. (2010). Loneliness of left-behind children: A cross-sectional survey in a sample of rural China. Child Care Health and Development, 36(6), 812–817.
18.
JimenezT.MusituG.RamosMMurguiS. (2010). Community involvement and victimization at school: An analysis through family, personal and social adjustment. Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 959–974.
19.
KionishiS.HymelS. (2009). Bullying and stress in early adolescence: The role of coping and social support. Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 333–356.
20.
KlineP. (2000). The handbook of psychological testing (2nd ed.). Routledge.
21.
KobakR.MadsenS. (2008). Disruptions in attachment bonds: Implications for theory, research, and clinical intervention. In CassidyJ.ShaverP. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed., pp. 23–48). Guilford Press.
22.
LiQ.LiuG.ZangW. (2015). The health of left-behind children in rural China. China Economic Review, 36, 367–376.
23.
LiuM. (1991). The types, causes, and educations of puppy love among middle-school students. Educational Review, 2, 17–20. (In Chinese)
24.
LiuP. L.LeungL. (2017). Migrant parenting and mobile phone use: Building quality relationships between Chinese migrant workers and their left-behind children. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 12(4), 1–22.
25.
LiuX.YangX.ZhouL.WangL.SuL. (2012). Relationship between attachment to parents and bullying, victimization of 4-6 graders. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 20, 246–248.
26.
LiuZ.LiX.GeX. (2009). Left too early: The effects of age at separation from parents on Chinese rural children’s symptoms of anxiety and depression. American Journal of Public Health, 99(11), 2049–2054.
27.
LuJ.ZhangC.XueY.MaoD.ZhengX.WuS.WangX. (2019). Moderating effect of social support on depression and health promoting lifestyle for Chinese empty nesters: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 256, 495–508.
28.
LuS.LinY. T.VikseJ. H.HuangC. C. (2016). Well-being of migrant and left-behind children in China: Education, health, parenting, and personal values. International Journal of Social Welfare, 25, 58–68.
29.
LuY. (2012). Education of children left behind in rural China. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(2), 328–341.
30.
MaccobyE. E. (1992). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent–child interaction. In MüssenP. H.HetheringtonE. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed., pp. 1–101). Wiley.
31.
MargalitM. (2010). Peer relations and loneliness within different cultures. In MargalitM. (Ed.), Lonely children and adolescents (pp. 133–163). Springer.
32.
MarkusH. R.KitayamaS. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253.
33.
MinY. (2002). Re-understanding of and educational countermeasures for “puppy love” (I). Beijing Education, 1, 14–15. (In Chinese)
34.
MontgomeryM. J.ScorellG. T. (1998). Love and dating experience in early and middle adolescence: Grade and gender comparisons. Journal of Adolescence, 21(6), 677–689.
OlweusD. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Blackwell.
37.
OtakeY.LiuX.LuoX. (2019). Involvement in bullying among left-behind children in provincial Chinese cities: The role of perceived emotional support. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 28, 943–957.
38.
SongH. Y. (2017). Research on prevention and treatment of school bullying from the perspective of nat/ional governance. Journal of Chinese Youth Social Science, 1, 26–33. (In Chinese)
39.
SouranderA.HelstelaL.HeleniusH.PihaJ. (2000). Persistence of bullying from childhood to adolescent: A longitudinal 8-year follow-up study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24(7), 873–881.
40.
SunX.ZhouZ.WangY.FanC. (2010). Loneliness of children left in rural areas and its relation to peer relationship. Psychological Science, 33, 337–340. (In Chinese)
41.
TangZ. (2017). What makes a difference to children’s health in rural China? Parental migration, remittances, and social support. Chinese Sociological Review, 49, 89–109.
42.
WaldenL. M.BeranT. (2010). Attachment quality and bullying behavior in school-aged youth. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25, 5–18.
43.
WangJ.LannottiR. J.NanselT. R. (2009). School bullying among US adolescents: Physical, verbal, relational and cyber. Journal of Adolescence Health, 45(4), 368–375.
44.
WangQ. X. (2006). Weakened family education and socialization of left-behind children. Culture and History Vision, 7, 69–70. (In Chinese)
45.
WangY. Y. (2009). Study of the impact left by the weakening family function on the rear children’s socialization. Soochow University. (In Chinese)
46.
WenM.LinD. (2012). Child development in rural China: Children left behind by their migrant parents and children of nonmigrant families. Child Development, 83(1), 120–136.
47.
XiangB. (2007). How far are the left-behind left behind? A preliminary study in rural China. Population Space and Place, 13, 179–191.
48.
XuD.WuX.ZhangZ.DronkersJ. (2018). Not a zero-sum game: Migration and child well-being in contemporary China. Demographic Research, 38, 691–726.
49.
XuQ. N. (2017). The revelation of the family functional recovery for Rural left-behind children from the attachment theory. Journal of Hebei Youth Administrative Cadres College, 1, 23–26. (In Chinese)
50.
XuX. F.LiuL. (2018). On the cause of campus violence by left-behind children and the countermeasures. Journal of Zunyi Normal University, 20(3), 161–163. (In Chinese)
51.
YeJ. Z.MurrayJ. (2005). Left-behind children in rural China. Social Science Academic Press.
52.
ZhangH.ChiP.LongH.RenX. (2019). Bullying victimization and depression among left-behind children in rural China: Role of self-compassion and hope. Child Abuse & Neglect, 96, Article 104072.
53.
ZhangH.ZhouH.TaoT. (2019). Bullying behaviors and psychosocial adjustment among school-aged children in China. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(11), 2363–2375.
54.
ZhaoC.WangF.LiL.ZhouX.HeskethT. (2017). Long-term impacts of parental migration on Chinese children’s psychosocial well-being: Mitigating and exacerbating factors. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52, 669–677.
55.
ZhaoK. X.ZhangH. (2017). A strict mother and a gentle father: The power and action logic of husband and wife in family education. Modern Communication, 8, 173–174. (In Chinese)
56.
ZhuY.ChanK. L. (2015). Prevalence and correlates of school bullying victimization in Xi’an, China. Violence & Victims, 30(4), 714–732.
