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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Despite robust evidence indicating the adverse academic, psychological, and school-related impacts of being victimized, the ways in which peer victimization indirectly affects children's academic performance by psychological and environmental distress remain poorly understood, especially in China.
OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate how peer victimization negatively impacts academic performance via the serial mediation effects of environmental and psychological distress among migrant versus non-migrant children in China. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Participants were selected by multistage stratified cluster sampling, and data were collected with a cross-sectional survey administered in Nanjing and Guangzhou, China. The sample included 1747 students in Grades 4 to 9 (boys = 54.7 %, mean age = 11.7 years).
METHODS: Structural equation modeling and group comparison analysis were conducted to examine the hypothesized model.
RESULTS: Children's experiences with peer victimization significantly affected their academic performance and in relationships partially mediated by environmental distress (i.e., perception of school safety), followed by psychological distress (i.e., anxiety) (95 % CI: [-0.010, -0.001], B = -0.005, p < .01). The serial mediation model applied to non-migrant children only (95 % CI: [-0.026, -0.001], B = -0.008, p < .05), however, whereas environmental distress exerted a single mediating effect on the association between peer victimization and academic performance among migrant children only (95 % CI: [-0.125, -0.044], B = -0.076, p < .001).
CONCLUSION: Environmental and psychological distress exerted serial mediating effect on the association between peer victimization and academic performance. School-based comprehensive intervention programs designed for migrant versus non-migrant children are recommended.
Language: en |