Bullying victimization and its life-course shadows: evidence from China

Adolescent bullying victimization and its associations with short- and long-term educational and psychological outcomes in China have been rarely studied. Utilizing a 15-year longitudinal dataset, we adopt a life-course perspective to examine how adolescent bullying victimization is linked to educational and psychological outcomes in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood in China. The results support the academic protection hypothesis, i.e., prior academic achievement protects against subsequent bullying victimization. Adolescent bullying victimization has significant, adverse implications for educational achievement and behavioral problems in the short term. In the long term, as adolescents transition into young adulthood, the adverse implications of bullying victimization persist only for educational attainment, not for adulthood self-esteem and depression in general. Additionally, there are notable gender differences in the implications of adolescent bullying victimization. In the short term, adolescent bullying victimization is negatively associated with educational achievement only for girls. In the long term, girls are more likely to experience adverse psychological outcomes, such as higher levels of adulthood depression, from prior bullying victimization, while boys are more prone to have lower educational attainment due to adolescent bullying victimization.

Automated summary

This study examines the relationship between adolescent bullying victimization and educational and psychological outcomes in China using a 15-year longitudinal dataset. The results show that prior academic achievement can protect against subsequent bullying victimization. Adolescent bullying victimization has adverse effects on short-term educational achievement and behavioral problems, but has limited impact on long-term self-esteem and depression in adulthood. Gender differences are also notable, with girls experiencing more negative psychological outcomes and boys experiencing lower educational attainment due to bullying victimization.