Relational Victimization and Internalizing Problems: Moderation of Popularity and Mediation of Popularity Status Insecurity

Trajectory of Relational Victimization during Mid-Adolescence: The Effect of Gender, Childhood Maltreatment, Internalizing Problems, and Socioeconomic Status

BACKGROUND

Relational victimization (RV) is a significant threat to adolescent mental health and social adaptation in China. However, its developmental characteristics during the school transition period are poorly understood. Finkelhor's developmental victimology framework provides a comprehensive lens to explore factors influencing RV's development. This study examined the trajectory of RV and the impact of gender, childhood maltreatment, internalizing problems, and family socioeconomic status.

METHODS

We recruited 762 students from a high school in Sichuan Province, China, to complete three questionnaires in June 2020, December 2020, and June 2021. After excluding participants who did not fully complete all three surveys or whose data were disqualified, we obtained a final longitudinal sample of 605 participants. All participants were high school freshmen, with a mean age of 15.89 years (SD = 0.59) at the time of the final survey; participants included 264 boys. We used this data to construct a conditional growth model that incorporated both time-varying and time-invariant covariates.

RESULTS

The results revealed that the RV of Chinese mid-adolescents follows a linear growth trend. Childhood maltreatment was found to be a predictor of the initial level of RV, while socioeconomic status predicted the rate of RV's growth. Internalizing problems were found to influence the development trajectory of RV.

CONCLUSION

The findings highlighted the increasing trend of RV during school transition and the roles of childhood maltreatment, socioeconomic status, and internalizing problems in shaping RV's development. This study extended the developmental victimology framework and offers valuable insights for interventions targeting adolescents' RV.

Bullying and depression among adolescents in East Asia: a scoping review on prevalence rates, risk and protective factors

Introduction

Bullying and victimization in adolescence is associated with mental health problems including depression. Depression in East Asian adolescents presents similarities and differences from that in Western adolescents. This review reports on the prevalence and psychosocial associations of bullying and depression in East Asian adolescents.

Methods

Electronic databases (Medline, and Embase) were searched for English language articles on bullying and its associations for a span of 10 years (1st January 2013 to 19th January 2024). Searches were limited to studies conducted in East Asia involving adolescents 10-19 years of age.

Results

Out of 1,231 articles initially identified, 65 full-text articles (consisting of 44 cross-sectional and 21 cohort studies) met the inclusion criteria and were included for qualitative synthesis & analysis. Prevalence rates of bullying ranged from 6.1% - 61.3% in traditional bullying victimization and 3.3% to 74.6% in cyberbullying victimization with higher rates in at-risk groups (e.g., adolescents with internet addiction). Psychosocial associations of bullying and depression which were similarly found in Western cultures include individual factors of coping style and gender; family factors of functioning and sibling relationships; and community factors of friendship and school-connectedness. In contrast, unique East Asian risk factors included being different (i.e., sexual minority status) and teachers as bullies.

Conclusion

Findings of this scoping review suggest that strong relationships within families, peers and the school community coupled with adolescents' positive coping style are protective against the negative effects of bullying. Conversely, poor parent-child attachment in the midst of family dysfunction, poor engagement with peers and the school community together with low self-esteem predispose East Asian adolescents to depressive symptoms as a result of victimization. Similar to Western cultures, adolescents who are bully-victims and poly-victims are most vulnerable to depression. As a significant proportion of bullying occurred in school, future research could focus on a whole-school intervention approach to counter bullying.

Forms of Peer Victimization and School Adjustment Among Japanese Adolescents: A Multilevel Analysis

The psychosocial correlates and consequences of peer victimization are well documented. However, there is limited knowledge about whether different forms of peer victimization (relational and physical) are predictive of school-based social and motivational factors among adolescents from non-Western cultures. The present study examined the relationship between individual and school-level forms of peer victimization and school adjustment among Japanese adolescents, and the mediating role that these factors may play. The Japanese sample (N = 6109 from 185 schools, Mage = 15.78, SD = 0.29, 51% girls and 49% boys) was drawn from a large international dataset, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018. Results showed that school-level relational victimization was associated with individual-level relational victimization, and school-level physical victimization was associated with individual-level physical victimization, after controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Individual-level relational victimization was also uniquely associated with indices of school adjustment (negative affect, positive affect, and fear of failure) over and above physical victimization. While controlling for relational victimization, individual-level physical victimization was associated with indices of school adjustment (positive affect and meaning in life). In further findings, school-level relational and physical victimization were indirectly, but not directly, related to some of students' school adjustment through individual-level relational and physical victimization. These parallel and differential associations suggest the importance of considering the role of relational and physical victimization in school adjustment among Japanese adolescents.

Longitudinal Associations Between Peer Victimization and Positive and Negative Social Risk Taking in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Adolescence is characterized by heightened risk taking, along with salient peer relationships. This study leveraged data from 167 adolescents across five years (M(SD)_age = 15.05 (0.54) years at Time 1; 47% female) to examine how risk perception and peer victimization in adolescence interrelate and predict risk likelihood in young adulthood. Bivariate growth curve modeling revealed that higher initial levels of positive social risk perception predicted a slower decrease in relational victimization throughout adolescence. Higher initial levels of relational victimization in adolescence predicted higher negative social risk likelihood in young adulthood. Adolescents with heightened risk sensitivity to positive social risks may be vulnerable to relational victimization, and prevention efforts to reduce relational victimization may protect adolescents from future negative risk taking.

Popularity Status Insecurity as a Risk Factor for Adolescents' Maladaptive Weight-Related Cognitions and Behaviors: Examining a Moderated Mediation Model

Previous studies have identified popularity as a risk factor for adolescents' body image concerns and disordered eating behaviors, yet little is known about how adolescents' insecure feelings about their popularity status may be associated with these outcomes. To address this gap, this study examined whether popularity status insecurity was linked to weight-related cognitions and behaviors one year later and whether these links were mediated by body dissatisfaction and moderated by popularity status. A total of 233 Chinese 10th and 11th grade adolescents (41% girls; M_age = 15.81 years, SD = 0.68) participated in the study. The results showed that adolescents' popularity status insecurity was positively and indirectly related to greater future drive for thinness and restrained eating through the mediation of dissatisfied feelings about their own body shape only among those with average and low popularity, and these indirect effects were strengthened as adolescents' popularity decreased. Implications for prevention and intervention of eating disturbances for adolescents are discussed.

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

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.