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The Age and Gender Effect on Four Forms of Peer Victimization among Chinese Children and Adolescents

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Abstract

This study is the first to examine the effects of age and gender on different forms of peer victimization among local Chinese schoolchildren in Hong Kong. The cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 8604 schoolchildren aged between 8 and 16 from 24 primary (elementary) and secondary (middle) schools in Hong Kong. The Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale was used to measure how often the participants had experienced physical and verbal victimization, social manipulation, and attacks on property during the last school term. The participants were divided into three age groups (8–10, 11–13, 14–16) based on the average ages of senior primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary school students. Two-way MANOVA and subsequent two-way ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. Physical victimization and attacks on property were found to decrease with age. Across the age groups, boys were more likely than girls to experience physical and verbal victimization, but not social manipulation. However, the gender × age group interaction effects were insignificant. The findings suggest that educators and helping professionals should consider providing gender-specific anti-bullying programs in schools.

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Data Transparency

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This research is supported by the General Research Fund (Project no. 11611517), University Grants Committee, Hong Kong.

It was funded by the General Research Fund (GRF) with project number 11611517 under the Research Grants Council (RGC). Ethical approval was granted by the Research Committee of the City University of Hong Kong. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants’ parents. Approval was also obtained from all principals, vice-principals, and school administrators of the participating schools.

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  1. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Annis Lai Chu Fung, Eileen Yuk Ha Tsang & Andrew Yiu Tsang Low

  2. Department of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China

    Guangdong Zhou

  3. Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

    Bess Yin Hung Lam

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  1. Annis Lai Chu Fung
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Fung, A.L.C., Zhou, G., Tsang, E.Y.H. et al. The Age and Gender Effect on Four Forms of Peer Victimization among Chinese Children and Adolescents. Applied Research Quality Life 16, 2439–2456 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09924-8

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