Impacts of Low Self-Control and Delinquent Peer Associations on Bullying Growth Trajectories Among Korean Youth: A Latent Growth Mixture Modeling Approach

Trajectories of peer victimization among left-behind children in rural China: The role of positive school climate

Left-behind children are likely to experience peer victimization, which can have detrimental consequences in their developmental outcomes. Yet, limited longitudinal research have examined peer victimization trajectories over time or the factors associated with left-behind children in China. The purpose of the present study was to examine what, if any, distinct trajectories of peer victimization exist among left-behind children and whether these trajectories are related to school climate, left-behind status, and their interactions. Participants were 853 Chinese left-behind children (Mage = 14.25, SD = 2.39; 43.4% girls) who participated in a four-wave longitudinal study conducted in rural China. Participants reported school climate (indexed by safety and order, acceptance and support, equality and fairness, autonomy and cooperation) at T1 and peer victimization across T1 to T4 spanning 2 years. Latent class growth analyses identified four peer victimization trajectories, including a stably low-decreasing group, a moderate-decreasing group, a high-decreasing group, and an increasing group. Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that children who perceived more positive school climate were more likely to exhibit a stably low-decreasing trajectory compared to the other three groups. In addition, among left-behind children who perceived more positive school climate, children with single-parent migrating were more likely to be members of the stably low-decreasing group as compared to those with both-parent migrating. Peer victimization among left-behind children is a concern especially for those who were left behind by both parents and perceived less positive school climate. Targeted school-based interventions and services focused on reducing peer victimization and improving school climate are needed for left-behind children, especially those with both-parent migrating.

School resources, self-control and problem behaviors in Chinese adolescents: a longitudinal study in the post-pandemic era

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought many challenges to youth development. During this specific period, adolescents have suffered from numerous behavioral problems, which will lead to more maladaptive consequences. It is necessary to explore several protective factors to prevent or reduce the occurrence of problem behaviors in adolescence. The current study combined school resources and self-control to evaluate the multiple protective effects on adolescents' problematic behaviors in a two-wave longitudinal study. A sample of 789 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 14.00 years, SD = 2.05, 418 boys) were recruited via the random cluster sampling method to participate in the survey. The results confirmed the assumptions about the multiple protective effects of school resources and self-control on adolescents' problem behaviors. Specifically, school resources could negatively predict IGD and victimization, and self-control mediated these associations. Moreover, one problematic behavior could also mediate the associations between self-control and another problematic behavior. This is the first study to focus on the multiple protective effects of positive factors on adolescents' problem behaviors during the post-pandemic period, which has made several contributions to the literature and practice.

Joint Developmental Trajectories of Bullying and Victimization from Childhood to Adolescence: A Parallel-Process Latent Class Growth Analysis

Previous studies have shown that bullying and victimization can be experienced simultaneously by an individual and can change over time. Understanding the joint longitudinal development of the two is of great significance. We conducted a 4-year longitudinal study to examine the joint developmental trajectories of bullying and victimization, gender and grade differences in trajectory group membership, and changes in specific forms of bullying and victimization (verbal, relational, and physical bullying /victimization) in each trajectory group. A total of 775 children from China participated in our study. The average age of participants at the first wave was 10.90 years (SD = 1.12), and boys accounted for 69.5% of the sample. Based on mean scores, four distinct joint developmental trajectories of bullying and victimization were found: the involvement group (both bullying and victimization increased from low to high over time, accounting for 7.6% of the total), the desisted group (both bullying and victimization decreased from high to low over time, 6.1%), the victimization group (victimization remained at a high level, whereas bullying remained at a low level for 3 years, 13.2%), and the noninvolved group (bullying and victimization remained at a stable low level, 73.1%). Boys were more likely than girls to belong to the involvement group, desisted group, and victimization group, whereas girls were more likely than boys to belong to the noninvolved group. There was no significant grade difference in the trajectory group. All forms of bullying/victimization were consistent with the overall trend and showed similar levels. These results have important implications for the prevention of and interventions for school bullying.

Long-Term Effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences, School Disengagement, and Reasons for Leaving School on Delinquency in Adolescents Who Dropout

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the long-term effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), school disengagement, and the reasons for leaving school on adolescent delinquency while adjusting for sex.

Methods: Data were collected from 663 teenagers [male 368, female 295; mean age = 16.81 (SD = 1.10); age range = 13–19 years] through a Longitudinal Survey and Support Plan for Dropouts.

Results: Multivariate latent growth modeling (LGM) demonstrated that ACEs and school disengagement are positively associated with delinquency and the mediating effect of school disengagement on association between ACEs and delinquency was verified. Teenagers who quit school for personal reasons reported fewer instances of delinquent behavior than adolescents who left because of school reasons.

Conclusion: This study suggests that researchers and teachers need to consider ACEs and school disengagement as a warning index for delinquency with school dropout. In addition, the reason for leaving school should be considered to clarify the effect of school dropout on delinquency in adolescents who dropout.