Parent–Child, Teacher–Student, and Classmate Relationships and Bullying Victimization Among Adolescents in China: Implications for School Mental Health

Abstract

Parent–child, teacher–student, and peer relationships are important for adolescents, and can be related to bullying victimization. However, limited research explores whether, how much, and how these three interpersonal relationships are related to bullying victimization based on different grade levels (junior high and high school) and victimization status (victims and bully victims) in a Chinese cultural context. The present research addressed the gap. Participants were 945 Chinese students in junior high and high school (Mage = 14.11, SD = 1.48). The results showed that the three interpersonal relationships were significantly and negatively associated with bullying victimization, except parent–child relationships in bully victims. However, the predictive power of the three interpersonal relationships on bullying victimization varied. Compared to high school students, parent–child and teacher–student relationships in junior high school students had greater predictive power for bullying victimization. Compared to pure victims, teacher–student relationships in bully victims had greater predictive power for bullying victimization. Compared to bully victims, parent–child relationships of pure victims had greater predictive power for bullying victimization. Furthermore, the three interpersonal relationships had different roles in bullying victimization among groups. For junior high school students, high school students, and pure victims, parent–child relationships were related to bullying victimization directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of teacher–student and classmate relationships. For bully victims, teacher–student relationships were related to bullying victimization indirectly through the mediating role of relationships with classmates. Thus, anti-bullying policies and interventions need to be more individually tailored. Moreover, parent–child relationships are an important protective factor against bullying among Chinese adolescents.