The Association between Peer Victimization and Risk-Taking Behavior among Chinese Adolescents: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model

Yangang Nie; Guodong Wang; Pei Chen; Linxin Wang; Kai Dou

doi:10.3390/ijerph192114198

The Association between Peer Victimization and Risk-Taking Behavior among Chinese Adolescents: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 30;19(21):14198. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192114198.

Authors

Yangang Nie¹, Guodong Wang¹, Pei Chen¹, Linxin Wang², Kai Dou¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology and Research Center of Adolescent Psychology and Behavior, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

Abstract

Peer victimization has been considered a main source of risk-taking behavior among adolescents, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying this association. Based on the social-cognitive theory and the person-environment interactions model, the current study built a moderated mediation model to explore whether self-control mediated the link between peer victimization and adolescent risk-taking behavior and whether positive parenting moderated this link. We used a 2-time longitudinal design (6 months apart) to investigate 488 adolescents (M_age = 15.63 years, SD = 1.64) from 3 middle schools in Guangzhou. The results were as follows: (1) There were significant correlations among peer victimization, adolescent risk-taking behavior, self-control, and positive parenting when controlling for demographic variables. (2) Peer victimization not only influenced risk-taking behavior directly, but also indirectly through self-control. (3) Positive parenting moderated the influence of self-control on risk-taking behavior. In other words, positive parenting could enhance the inhibitory effect of self-control on risk-taking behavior. The results help reveal the mechanism by which adolescent risk-taking behavior forms and may help inform interventions against adolescent risk-taking behavior.

Keywords: adolescent; peer victimization; positive parenting; risk-taking behavior; self-control.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior*
Bullying* / psychology
China
Crime Victims* / psychology
Humans
Peer Group
Risk-Taking

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32071067); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31800938); the Plan of Philosophy and Social Science of Guangdong Province (No. GD22CXL05); the Education Scientific Research Project of Guangdong Province (No. 2021JKDY030).