IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v174y2025ics0190740925002130.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The dynamic interplay between social status and children’s bullying network: A longitudinal social network analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Yuan, Wen
  • Cao, Juan
  • Liu, Zheng
  • Zhang, Xuran
  • Liu, Lisha
  • Guo, Hui
  • Li, Yanfang

Abstract

Bullying is not only an individual behavior, but also a dynamic network that emerges through the complex process of changing ties between bullies and victims. Longitudinal research on bullying network and social status was limited. This study aimed to examine the social status of four types of bullying roles and the dynamic interplay between social status and bullying network. The study involved 965 students (52.1 % boys) from 22 fourth- and fifth-grade classes in China, spanning the years 2020 and 2021. To construct bullying networks and gauge social status, participants completed peer nomination questionnaires. Multi-level model and stochastic actor-oriented model were used to construct binary and ternary network effects. The results showed that bystanders emerged with the highest social status, while those occupying the bully/victim role had the lowest. Concerning social acceptance status, the ego effect was not significant (Est = −0.08, p > 0.05), but the alter effect was significant (Est = −0.19, p < 0.05). That is, children with high social preference trended to decrease bullying ties, yet their victimization ties will not significantly change. For social preference status, the ego effect was significant (Est = −0.21, p < 0.05), while the alter effect was not significant (Est = −0.04, p > 0.05). That is, children with high social acceptance trended to decrease victimization ties, but their bullying ties remain relatively unchanged. This study contributes to our understanding of bullying as a group process and the associations with social status, and provides implications for preventing school bullying.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuan, Wen & Cao, Juan & Liu, Zheng & Zhang, Xuran & Liu, Lisha & Guo, Hui & Li, Yanfang, 2025. "The dynamic interplay between social status and children’s bullying network: A longitudinal social network analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:174:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925002130
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108330
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740925002130
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108330?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huan Wang & Jingjing Tang & Sarah-Eve Dill & Jiusi Xiao & Matthew Boswell & Claire Cousineau & Scott Rozelle, 2022. "Bullying Victims in Rural Primary Schools: Prevalence, Correlates, and Consequences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-18, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Yunsen & He, Dan & Wang, Yilin & Zhao, Guochang & Yang, Jing, 2024. "Unveiling the shadows: School bullying and students' ability erosions in Chinese compulsory schools," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Ana Isabel Obregon-Cuesta & Luis Alberto Mínguez-Mínguez & Benito León-del-Barco & Santiago Mendo-Lázaro & Jessica Fernández-Solana & Jerónimo J. González-Bernal & Josefa González-Santos, 2022. "Bullying in Adolescents: Differences between Gender and School Year and Relationship with Academic Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-11, July.
    3. Xidong Ma & Zhihao Zhang & Xiaojiao Li & Yan Li, 2022. "The Relationship between the Outdoor School Violence Distribution and the Outdoor Campus Environment: An Empirical Study from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-33, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:174:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925002130. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.