Effect of Childhood Maltreatment and Peer Victimization on Antisocial Behavior in Chinese Left-Behind Children: A Latent Profile and Mediation Analysis

Abstract

Left-behind children (LBC) face the high incidence of childhood maltreatment and peer victimization, which further increases their risk of engaging in antisocial behavior. Few studies simultaneously considered adverse childhood experiences and the associations with antisocial behavior in LBC. This study used latent profile analysis to identify profiles of childhood maltreatment and peer victimization of LBC, as well as the mediating role of psychological capital between latent profiles and antisocial behavior. A total of 1004 LBC (50.1% girls, M_age = 11.65, SD = 1.24) participated in the study. After 1 year (Time 2), the data of 931 participants were collected. The profiles of childhood maltreatment and peer victimization in LBC were identified: low risk, doubly disadvantaged, and severe neglect. Compared with low risk, doubly disadvantaged and severe neglect had higher level of antisocial behavior a year later. Taking low risk as a reference, doubly disadvantaged significantly positively predicted LBC’s antisocial behavior, and psychological capital played a partial mediating role between the links. Taking low risk as a reference, severe neglect had a significant predictive effect on antisocial behavior through the mediation of psychological capital. The results of this study help to understand the potential complexity of adverse childhood experiences in LBC. It provides theoretical support for the prevention and intervention of antisocial behavior in LBC.

Keywords

left-behind children childhood maltreatment peer victimization antisocial behavior psychological capital

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Afifi

T. O.

Salmon

Garcés

Struck

Fortier

Taillieu

Stewart-Tufescu

Asmondson

G. J. G.

Sareen

MacMillan

H. L.

(2020). Confirmatory factor analysis of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among a community-based sample of parents and adolescents. BMC Pediatrics, 20, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-020-02063-3

Albert

Tullis

(2013). Measuring the user experience: Collecting, analyzing, and presenting usability metrics. Newnes.

Appleyard

Egeland

van Dulmen

M. H.

Alan Sroufe

(2005). When more is not better: The role of cumulative risk in child behavior outcomes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(3), 235–245. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00351.x

Bakk

Tekle

F. B.

Vermunt

J. K.

(2013). Estimating the association between latent class membership and external variables using bias-adjusted three-step approaches. Sociological Methodology, 43(1), 272–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081175012470644

Benavides Abanto

C. M.

Jara-Almonte

J. L.

Stuart

La Riva

. (2021). Bullying victimization among Peruvian children: The predictive role of parental maltreatment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(13–14), 6369–6390.

Benedini

K. M.

Fagan

A. A.

Gibson

C. L.

(2016). The cycle of victimization: The relationship between childhood maltreatment and adolescent peer victimization. Child Abuse & Neglect, 59, 111–121.

Bernstein

D. P.

Stein

J. A.

Newcomb

M. D.

Walker

Pogge

Ahluvalia

Stokes

Handelsman

Medrano

Desmond

Zule

(2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27(2), 169–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(02)00541-0

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/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.11.010

Chen

Chan

K. L.

(2016). Parental absence, child victimization, and psychological well-being in rural China. Child Abuse & Neglect, 59, 45–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/jchiabu.2016.07.009

10.

Chen

(2022). Parental migration and children’s exposure to polyvictimization in rural China. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(19–20), NP17429–NP17453. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211028015

11.

Cui

Liu

(2020). Physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect and childhood behavior problems: A meta-analysis of studies in mainland China. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21(1), 206–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018757750

12.

Dziak

J. J.

Lanza

S. T.

Tan

(2014). Effect size, statistical power, and sample size requirements for the bootstrap likelihood ratio test in latent class analysis. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 21(4), 534–552. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2014.919819

13.

Fan

Chen

(2015). The development of psychological capital scale for parent-absent children in rural areas of China. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 23(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2015.01.001

14.

Fan

Fang

Zhao

Chen

(2023). The effect of cumulative risk related to family adversity on social adjustment among left-behind children in China: The mediating role of stress and the moderating role of psychosocial resources. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 55(8), 1270.

15.

Fan

Liu

Lin

Liang

(2024). Parent–child separation and adolescents’ aggression: The life history theory perspective. Psychological Exploration, 44(05), 438–444.

16.

Fan

Peng

Fang

(2017). The relationship between perceived life stress, loneliness and general well-being among the left-behind rural children: Psychological capital as a mediator and moderator. Journal of Psychological Science, 40(02), 388–394.

17.

Fan

Zhang

Lin

Che

Liu

(2022). Analysis on the antisocial behavior structure of children and adolescents in grades 4–9. Journal of Liaoning Normal University (Social Science Edition), 45(06), 59–66. https://doi.org/10.16216/j.cnki.lsxbwk.202206059

18.

Fang

Tian

Liu

Lei

(2024). Pathways from childhood emotional neglect to traditional victimization among secondary vocational school students: The roles of family functioning, psychopathy, and socioeconomic status. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 40(19–20), 4606–4628. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241297320.

19.

Farrington

D. P.

(2020). The integrated cognitive antisocial potential (ICAP) theory: Past, present, and future. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 6, 172–187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40865-019-00112-9

20.

Finkelhor

(2007). Developmental victimology. In Davis

R. C.

Lurigio

A. J.

Herman

(Eds.), Victims of crime (3rd ed., pp. 9–34). Sage.

21.

Huebner

E. S.

Tian

(2022). Profiles of family maltreatment and peer victimization: Associations with psychosocial adjustment in Chinese children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 133, 105851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105851

22.

Xue

Chai

Sun

Jiang

(2023). What matters on rural left-behind children’s problem behavior: Family socioeconomic status or perceived discrimination. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2), 1334. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021334

23.

Gershoff

E. T.

Sattler

K. M. P.

Ansari

(2018). Strengthening causal estimates for links between spanking and children’s externalizing behavior problems. Psychological Science, 29(1), 110–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617729816

24.

Hayes

A. F.

Preacher

K. J.

(2014). Statistical mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67(3), 451–470. https://doi.org/10.1111/bmsp.12028

25.

Heath

N. M.

Hall

B. J.

Russ

E. U.

Canetti

Hobfoll

S. E.

(2012). Reciprocal relationships between resource loss and psychological distress following exposure to political violence: An empirical investigation of COR theory’s loss spirals. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 25(6), 679–695. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.628988

26.

Hobfoll

S.E.

(1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44, 513–524.

27.

Hobfoll

S. E.

(2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology, 50(3), 337–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00062

28.

Zhang

Wang

(2015). A meta-analysis of the trait resilience and mental health. Personality and Individual Differences, 76, 18–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.11.039

29.

Lazarus

R. S.

Folkman

(1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.

30.

Lin

Feng

Sh.

Shen

Xiao

(2024). The relationship between parent-child communication and peer victimization among rural-to-urban migrant children: Based on latent profile analysis. Psychological Development and Education, 40(06), 832–844.

31.

Liu

(2022). Psychology of left-behind children. In Xu

Yang

(Eds.), Social psychological research (Vol. 6; pp. 829–830). East China Normal University Press.

32.

Liu

Fan

Lin

Xia

Zhang

(2025). Validation of the child and adolescent antisocial behavior questionnaire: Based on a large-scale nationally representative sample. Current Psychology, 1–13.

33.

Luo

Bussey

(2022). Mediating role of moral disengagement in the perpetration of cyberbullying by victims and bystanders. Journal of Adolescence, 94(8), 1142–1149.

34.

Luthans

K. W.

Luthans

B. C.

(2004). Positive psychological capital: Beyond human and social capital. Business Horizons, 47(1), 45–50.

35.

Martinez-Torteya

Miller-Graff

L. E.

Howell

K. H.

Figge

(2017). Profiles of adaptation among child victims of suspected maltreatment. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 46(6), 840–847. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1072822

36.

Mynard

Joseph

(2000). Development of the multidimensional peer-victimization scale. Aggressive Behavior, 26(2), 169–178.

37.

O’Hara

M. A.

(2020). Peer victimization of maltreated youth: Distinct risk for physically abused versus neglected children. Journal of School Health, 90(6), 457–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12895

38.

Parke

R. D.

Ladd

G. W.

(Eds.). (2016). Family-peer relationships: Modes of linkage. Routledge.

39.

Pearlin

L. I.

Menaghan

E. G.

Lieberman

M. A.

Mullan

J. T.

(1981). The stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22(4), 337–356.

40.

Pistella

Baumgartner

Laghi

Salvati

Carone

Rosati

Baiocco

(2020).Verbal, physical, and relational peer victimization: The role of immigrant status and gender. Psicothema, 32(2), 214–220.

41.

Wang

Huang

Ashish

K. C.

Yang

Huang

Chen

Gao

Wang

Zhou

(2020). Socio-emotional challenges and development of children left behind by migrant mothers. Journal of Global Health, 10(1), 010806.

42.

Rivenbark

J. G.

Odgers

C. L.

Caspi

Harrington

Hogan

Houts

R. M.

Poulton

Moffitt

T. E.

(2018). The high societal costs of childhood conduct problems: Evidence from administrative records up to age 38 in a longitudinal birth cohort. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(6), 703–710. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12850

43.

Salmon

Chartier

Roos

L. E.

Afifi

T. O.

(2023). Typologies of child maltreatment and peer victimization and the associations with adolescent substance use: A latent class analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 140, 106177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106177

44.

Şenkal Ertürk

İ.

Kahya

Gör

. (2020). Childhood emotional maltreatment and aggression: The mediator role of the early maladaptive schema domains and difficulties in emotion regulation. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 29(1), 92–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2018.1541493

45.

Schwarz

(1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. Annals of Statistics, 6, 461–464.

46.

Shen

Liu

Zhao

Shi

(2015). Research on the psychological development of children of migrant workers in the process of urbanization. Psychological Development and Education, 31(1), 108–116. https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2015.01.15

47.

Sun

Jiang

Wang

Zilioli

Chi

Chen

Xiao

Lin

(2022). Cortisol reactivity as a mediator of peer victimization on child internalizing and externalizing problems: The role of gender differences. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 50(3), 283–294.

48.

Tang

Zhang

Zhou

Zhu

(2018). A probe into the present situation of the types of caregivers of left-behind children and their parenting styles. Survey of Education, 7(16), 73–74. https://doi.org/10.16070/j.cnki.cn45-1388/g4s.2018.16.023

49.

Taylor

K. A.

Sullivan

T. N.

Kliewer

(2013). A longitudinal path analysis of peer victimization, threat appraisals to the self, and aggression, anxiety, and depression among urban African American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(2), 178–189.

50.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2023).China Statistical Yearbook-2023. https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/ndsj/2023/indexch.htm.

51.

Turner

H. A.

Shattuck

Finkelhor

Hamby

(2017). Effects of poly-victimization on adolescent social support, self-concept, and psychological distress. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(5), 755–780

52.

Wang

Huo

Zhang

Liu

(2018). The relationship between mental health and child abuse and their difference between left-at-home children and those living with their parents in rural areas: An analysis based on the two-dimensional four-fact mental health structure. Chinese Journal of Special Education, 1, 58–64.

53.

Wang

Zhao

(2023). Emotional maltreatment and left-behind adolescents’loneliness in rural China: The moderating role of peer acceptance. Current Psychology, 42(25), 21478–21488. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03263-z

54.

Wei

Duan

Zhou

Ping

Ding

(2020). The influence of childhood abuse on internet addiction: Moderating mediating effect. Psychological Development and Education 36(01), 77–83. https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.ISSN1001-4918.2020

55.

Wen

Huang

Tang

(2018). Preliminary work for modeling questionnaire data. Journal of Psychological Science, 41(01), 204–210.

56.

Wen

Y. J.

X. B.

Zhao

X. X.

Wang

X. Q.

Hou

W. P.

Q. J.

Zheng

Pao

Tan

Wang

C. Y.

(2019). The effect of left-behind phenomenon and physical neglect on behavioral problems of children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 88, 144–151. https://doi.org/144-151.10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.007

57.

Widom

(1989). The cycle of violence. Science, 244, 160–166.

58.

Wnight

M. O.

Masten

A. S.

Narayan

A. J.

(2013). Handbook of resilience in children (pp. 15–37). Springer US.

59.

World Health Organization. (2006). Preventing child maltreatment: A guide to taking action and generating evidence.

60.

Zhao

(2023). Psychological abuse and peer abuse of college students in childhood and their relationship with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 37(07), 596–602.

61.

Xiong

Hai

Huang

Xin

(2020). Relationship between family cumulative risk and adolescent mental health—Compensation effect and moderating effect of psychological capital. Psychological Development and Education, 36(01), 94–102. https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2020.01.11

62.

(2016). Phenomenon of “Left-behind Children”: A summary of research on problem-oriented and positive-oriented. Mental Health Education in Primary and Secondary School, (03), 4–7.

63.

Xie

Ding

Wang

(2024). Association between child maltreatment and aggression in Chinese early adolescents: The mediating role of irritability. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 39(1–2), 393–413.

64.

Chen

Harrison

S. E.

Guo

Lin

(2016). Peer victimization and depressive symptoms among rural-to-urban migrant children in China: The protective role of resilience. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1542. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01542

65.

Yuan

Peng

(2021). Antisocial behavior of left-behind children: Research progress and prospect. Journal of Public Security Science, 4(03), 91–108+124.

66.

Zhang

(2022). The role of social cohesion in preventing child abuse among rural Chinese left-behind children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(7–8), NP4510–NP4526. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520958657

67.

Zhang

Wang

(2024). The longitudinal relationship between childhood trauma and adolescents’ externalizing problems: A moderated mediation model. Child Abuse & Neglect, 149, 106646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106646

68.

Zhang

Dong

(2010). Positive psychological capital: Measurement and its relationship with mental health. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 8(01), 58–64.

69.

Zhao

Yang

Huang

(2016). The relationship between discrimination perception and positive/negative emotions of left-behind children in rural areas: The protective effect of parent-child affinity. Psychological Development and Education, 32(03), 369–376.https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2016.03.14

70.

Zhao

Zhang

Zhou

(2005). Evaluation on reliability and validity of Chinese version of childhood trauma questionnaire. Chinese Journal of Clinical Rehabilitation, 9(16), 209–211.

71.

Zhu

Yin

Zhou

(2021). Psychological capital differs among rural left-behind children and is associated with emotional and behavioral problems. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 565385. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.565385

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.02 MB