The Roles of Clique Status Hierarchy and Aggression Norms in Victimized Adolescents' Aggressive Behavior

Peer Victimization and School Engagement among Chinese Adolescents: Does Classroom-Level Victimization Matter?

Peer victimization has been demonstrated to have a long-lasting negative impact on adolescents' psychological well-being, yet its impact on school engagement is inconclusive, particularly during high school. In addition, research about the role of classroom-level victimization in the association between individual-level peer victimization and adolescents' school engagement remains underexplored. Previous research has relied solely on self-report measures to assess peer victimization, potentially limiting the scope of understanding. This study investigated the moderating effects of both student-reported and teacher-reported classroom-level victimization on the association between individual-level peer victimization and school engagement among Chinese adolescents. A sample of 2,803 high school students (aged from 14-19 years, Mage = 15.43 years, SD = 0.56; 48.5% boys) from 48 classes (Mclass size = 58.62, SD = 3.65) completed measures of peer victimization and school engagement in October 2023. Their homeroom teachers (85.4% males; Mage = 44.17 years, SD = 7.70) reported overall victimization in each class. Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that, at the individual level, adolescents who reported higher victimization exhibited lower school engagement. Notably, this association was significant only when the classroom-level victimization was high. Furthermore, these significant findings were observed for student-reported classroom-level victimization, but not for teacher-reported victimization. The findings suggest that reducing classroom-level victimization may help mitigate the negative effect of peer victimization on school engagement, underscoring the need to consider classroom environment when developing anti-bullying interventions for high school students.

How School Burnout Affects Depression Symptoms Among Chinese Adolescents: Evidence from Individual and Peer Clique Level

The impact of peer clique school burnout norms on adolescents' emotional adaptation is becoming increasingly prominent, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear, especially in China where academic achievement is highly valued. The present study examined how clique burnout norms impact the relationship between school burnout, negative cognitive bias, and depressive symptoms. A total of 904 Chinese adolescents (57% boys; Mage = 12.73, SD = 0.43) participated in a two-wave longitudinal study (initiated in 2015, with approximately a 2-year interval). The results of multilevel models indicated that only in low clique burnout norms, adolescents with high school burnout at T1 would exhibit more negative cognitive bias and suffer from more depressive symptoms at T2, whereas the moderating effect was only observed in all-boys cliques. These findings reflect that a decrease in the overall level of burnout within a peer clique does not necessarily benefit every student, and the adaptation issues of students experiencing burnout still require attention even in a relatively healthy context.

Peer Victimization and Adolescent Mental Health: School-level Victimization as a Moderator

As a global issue, peer victimization is closely associated with adolescent mental health. Although previous research has explored the relationship between peer victimization and mental health in some contexts, the school context, particularly within the Chinese cultural context, has not received sufficient attention. Based on the Healthy Context Paradox, this study aimed to explore the moderating role of school-level victimization in the relationship between individual-level peer victimization and mental health. This study tested two hypotheses by using a multilevel design: higher individual-level and school-level peer victimization are associated with higher depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction (Hypothesis 1); school-level victimization moderates the association between individual-level peer victimization and mental health (Hypothesis 2). Participants were 39,720 adolescents (50.41% females; Mage = 13.68, SD = 2.39) across 292 Chinese schools. They completed a set of questionnaires, including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the single-item Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Peer Victimization Scale, and demographics. The multilevel model indicated that both individual-level and school-level peer victimization were positively correlated with depressive symptoms and negatively correlated with life satisfaction. In schools with lower levels of victimization, there was a stronger association between individual peer victimization and adolescent mental health. A potential explanation for these results might be the victimization visibility and perceived severity in different contexts. These findings extended the discussion of the Healthy Context Paradox within the Chinese school context and provided valuable insights for developing school support strategies for victimized adolescents. School management might play a significant role in affecting the mental health of victimized adolescents.

Clique Hierarchy Moderates the Association between Social Preference and Defending Behaviors in Early Adolescence: The Role of Gender Differences

Although social preference promotes adolescents' defending behaviors, its potential mechanisms across gender cliques remain unclear from the group dynamic perspective. This study investigated 2470 Chinese early adolescents (49% girls, Mage = 14.40, SD = 0.58) to explore how social preference and clique hierarchy are associated with defending behaviors and whether these associations differ across gender-specific cliques. The results revealed that social preference was positively related to defending behaviors in boys' cliques, but negatively in girls' cliques. Furthermore, the association was strengthened by hierarchization in boys' cliques but was weakened in girls' cliques, while the status structure strengthened the association in boys' but not girls' cliques. These findings hold crucial implications for understanding and promoting defending behaviors among adolescents.