Trajectory Of Bullying In Preschool Children: Prediction Of Peer Relationship

Bullying is a special type of aggressive behavior that intentionally causes harm to the other party when the individual(or group)is not provoked,and this kind of behavior is repetitive,and the fundamental reason lies in the imbalance of power between the two sides.Most of the previous studies focused on the middle and late childhood or adolescence,and paid little attention to the early childhood.However,aggressive behaviors and negative conflicts of children have appeared as early as two years old and increased rapidly in the whole preschool period.This study will explore the developmental trajectory of bullying in preschool children and the prediction of peer relationships and gender.A questionnaire survey was conducted among 425pre-school children(about three and a half years old)who were followed up for one and a half years.Using the Mplus latent growth curve model(LGCM)and mixed growth model(GMM),the general development trajectory and heterogeneity of preschool children's bullying behavior were investigated,and the prediction of peer relationship and gender on preschool children's bullying behavior was investigated.The results are as follows.(1)From 3 to 4.5 years old,the overall level of preschool children's bullying is low and shows an increasing trend with the growth of age;(2)Two significantly different subgroup trajectories were determined through the fitting parameters of the model.One was the "low-slowly rising group",accounting for88.47% of the total population.The other group was the "high-fast-decline group",accounting for 11.53% of the total number;(3)?In terms of peer rejection,peer rejection in period T1 can positively predict bullying behavior in periods T1 and T2.T2 peer rejection positively predicted bullying in T2 and T3.The peer rejection in T3 period positively predicted the bullying behavior in T3 period.In terms of peer acceptance,peer acceptance in T1 period can negatively predict bullying behavior in T1 and T3 period.Peer acceptance in T2 period can negatively predict bullying behavior in T2 period.Peer acceptance in T3 period can negatively predict bullying behavior in T3 period.? In terms of sub-group trajectory,the level of peer rejection experienced bychildren can significantly predict the category group of individuals.In the "low-slow-growth group",the level of peer rejection experienced by individuals is80.39% higher than that in the "high-fast-decline group".In the group with high level of peer rejection,bullying behavior shows an increasing trend.Neither peer acceptance nor gender predicted the category group of preschool children's bullying effectively.As a longitudinal study,this study explored the development trajectory of preschool bullying and identified the existing problems as early as possible.It can not only prevent bullying behavior from further strengthening in the later growth process,but also reduce the negative impact on children's social and emotional development,promote their successful adaptation in school,and provide theoretical support for the prevention of preschool children's bullying behavior in the Chinese cultural background.