Abstract
Despite evidence indicating a connection between inappropriate parenting styles and peer victimization, the dynamic processes and mechanisms underlying this link and whether it is consistent across genders and different developmental stages have yet to be explored. To address these gaps, the current 2-year longitudinal study explored the potential bidirectional associations between parental psychological control and peer victimization, as well as the mediating role of adolescent basic psychological need satisfaction. A total of 4,990 adolescents (49.4% boys, Mage T1 = 12.21 years, SDage T1 = 2.60) across different developmental stages (early adolescents, N = 1,819, 49.2% boys, Mage T1 = 9.34 years, SDage T1 = 0.62; middle adolescents, N = 1,525, 50.75% boys, Mage T1 = 12.47 years, SDage T1 = 0.69; late adolescents, N = 1,646, 46.5% boys, Mage T1 = 15.26 years, SDage T1 = 0.50) participated in this three-wave longitudinal survey. The results revealed that parental psychological control was bidirectionally associated with peer victimization. Additionally, basic psychological need satisfaction played the meditating role in this vicious cycle. Further analysis demonstrated interesting developmental differences. Parental psychological control was directly associated with subsequent peer victimization at all three developmental stages, and peer victimization was only directly associated with subsequent parental psychological control in the next year among early adolescents and middle adolescents. The mutual mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction between parental psychological control and peer victimization was observed exclusively in early adolescents. Both male and female adolescents could be equally affected by these dynamics. This research underscores the reciprocal dynamics inherent in parent-child interactions, intervening in either of these processes (i.e., family, peers, and adolescent basic psychological need satisfaction) may break this destructive cycle.
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The authors would like to thank the adolescents who participated in this study.
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This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [31971011].
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C.P. conceived of the present study questions, participated in the design of the study, interpreted the data, performed statistical analysis, drafted and revised the manuscript; L.W. interpreted the data, drafted and revised the manuscript; Z.G. drafted the manuscript; P.S. drafted the manuscript; X.Y. drafted the manuscript; M.Y. revised the manuscript; Y.K. participated in the design of the study, coordinated the data collection, provided critical review of the manuscript, and provided funding. All authors read and approved this version to be submitted for publication.
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Peng, C., Wang, LX., Guo, Z. et al. Bidirectional Longitudinal Associations between Parental Psychological Control and Peer Victimization among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction. J. Youth Adolescence 53, 967–981 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01910-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01910-7