College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

Winter 3-22-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Yan Li, PhD

Second Advisor

Susan McMahon, PhD

Abstract

Peer victimization is an issue that affects adolescents globally (Chudal et al., 2021). While there is considerable research investigating the negative impact of victimization on mental health and behavioral changes among Western youth, there is significantly less research that focuses on Chinese adolescents (e.g., Reijntjes et al., 2010). Influenced by collectivistic values, Chinese adolescents are typically less aggressive and more prosocial compared to American adolescents (Li et al., 2010; Zhang & Han, 2021). However, victimization and aggression do occur, thus it is important to examine the mental health and behavioral outcomes of victimized Chinese adolescents. Additionally, there is little understanding surrounding if collectivistic Chinese adolescents are more or less affected by the negative consequences of victimization compared to individualistic Chinese adolescents. Peer status may also play a role in influencing the experiences of victimized adolescents as high peer status students may enjoy increased social resources that serve as a buffer while low peer status students may experience strain which acts as a vulnerable factor. In the present study, we surveyed 320 7th and 8th graders from a middle school in Guangzhou, China. Out of the initial 320 participants, 285 continued their participation in the study at the second time point. We applied a short-term longitudinal methodology that took place over six months during which participants responded to the same questionnaire twice, reporting cultural values and mental health through self-reports, peer status through peer nominations, and aggression and prosocial behavior through both self-reports and peer-nominations. We ran hierarchical regressions to examine the impact of victimization on mental health and behavioral outcomes (e.g., depression, loneliness, in-person overt and relational victimization, in-person and cyber overt and relational aggression, in-person and cyber prosocial behavior) at the concurrent time point as well as six months later. Then, we applied a person-centered approach using latent profile analysis to investigate if different groups of students characterized by different cultural values (collectivism and individualism) and peer status (popularity and likeability) were associated with distinct patterns of concurrent and future adjustment, particularly after being victimized. Our study found that overt and relational victimization had detrimental impacts on concurrent in-person and cyber aggression, concurrent and longitudinal in-person prosocial behavior, concurrent cyber prosocial behavior, as well as concurrent and longitudinal mental health issues. With regard to latent profile groups, we uncovered three latent profile groups: Class 1 (Average Values, Average Peer Status), Class 2 (High Individualism, Low Likeability), and Class 3 (High Collectivism, High Peer Status). Participants belonging to Class 3 (High Collectivism, High Peer Status) were characterized by the best adjustment outcomes and were least affected by victimization while participating belonging to Class 2 (High Individualism, Low Likeability) fared the worst. By identifying distinct patterns of outcomes associated with different cultural and status groups, this study provided insights into the development of more targeted and effective intervention strategies that could potentially reduce the adverse impacts of victimization and promote better mental health and wellbeing among Chinese youth.

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