| Up to 80% of bullying has almost always occurs in an environment where peers are witnessing the incident.And bystanders’ responses can influence the occurrence and maintenance of school bullying.There is a need for researchers to learn more about students who witness bullying as bystanders.Previous research has found that pro-bullying bystander behaviors were a pivotal factor underlying the perpetuation of bullying.Therefore,this study focused on pro-bullying bystander behaviors so as to provided suggestions for future bullying prevention interventions.The variability in cognition,emotion and behavioral regulation may lead to changes in adolescents’ behavior as adolescents grow older.However,previous research on adolescent probullying bystander behaviors were mostly adopted cross-sectional data and static statistical method,which can’t understand the developmental trajectories of adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors.In addition,there are significant individual differences in the developmental trajectories of adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors,this is,there is heterogeneity.Thus,the present study aimed to combine both variable-centered and person-centered approaches to study the universality and individuality in pro-bullying bystander behaviors among adolescents.Finally,the developmental trajectories of adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors were influenced by a number of contextual and individual factors,and could impose effects on adolescents’ development.However,previous research largely independently focused on the antecedents or consequences of adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors.In the view of systematic and integrated model,the present study aimed to explore the crucial predictors and adjustment of the developmental trajectories of adolescents’ adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors.To address the mentioned limitations of previous research,the present study used a longitudinal design spanning a year and a half and collected four-wave data(wave 1—wave 4).A total of 976 junior and senior high school adolescents from Jiangxi and Anhui provinces completed four surveys.The present research design was composed by three major studies and six research purposes,these studies were gradually deepened and in progress.Specifically,the goals of Study 1 were to examine the developmental trajectories of adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors and identify subgroup of growth trajectories of adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors.In the Study 1a,the results of latent growth model have indicated that the developmental trajectory of pro-bullying bystander behaviors is in a linear pattern,showing an initial decline in pro-bullying bystander behaviors from wave 1 to wave 4.In addition,using the person-centered approach,our results of latent growth mixed model in the Study 1b have found 3 discrete longitudinal pro-bullying bystander behaviors,including high increasing group,moderate increasing group,and low descending group.The aims of Study 2 were to explore the crucial psychological predicators(i.e.,moral disengagement,empathy,peer pressure,teacher-student relationship)associated with developmental trajectories of pro-bullying bystander behaviors and those subtypes.The results in the Study 2a have found that moral disengagement positively predicted the initial level of probullying bystander behaviors.Teacher-student relationship significantly negatively predicted the initial level of pro-bullying bystander behaviors.Furthermore,moral disengagement negatively predicted the linear decline in pro-bullying bystander behaviors.Peer pressure positively predicted the linear decline in pro-bullying bystander behaviors.In addition,the Study 2b also examined the predictors associated with subtypes trajectories of pro-bullying bystander behaviors.Compared with adolescents in low descending group,adolescents exposure to high levels of peer pressure as well as with low levels of teacher-student relationship were more likely to be in the high increasing group.Meanwhile,adolescents with high levels of moral disengagement as well as with low levels of teacher-student relationship were more likely to be in the moderate increasing group rather than low descending group.The purposes of Study 3 were to examine adjustment outcomes(i.e.,problematic internet use,externalizing problem,sleep quality,depression/anxiety)associated with developmental trajectories of adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors and those subtypes.The results in the Study 3a found that the initial level and linear decline of pro-bullying bystander behaviors was significantly positively related with adolescents’ problematic internet use and externalizing problem.In the Study3 b,we also examined the subgroup differences of pro-bullying bystander behaviors trajectories in those developmental outcomes and the results showed that adolescents in the low descending group manifested well adjustment.However,adolescents in the high increasing group and moderate increasing group got higher scores on problematic internet use,externalizing problem as well as lower scores on sleep quality.In conclusion,from a dynamic and integrated perspective,the present study combined variablecentered and person-centered approaches to understand adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors comprehensively beyond the limitations of previous studies.Our results indicated that pro-bullying bystander behaviors display an initial decline tendency and heterogeneous during adolescence.On one hand,the developmental trajectories of pro-bullying bystander behaviors were influenced by certain contextual(e.g.,teacher-student relationship)and individual factors(e.g.,moral disengagement);on the other hand,it could pose negative effects on adolescent development.Therefore,our findings help to expand the research perspective in the field of adolescents’ probullying bystander behaviors and also identify the protective or risk factors and negative effects associated with adolescents’ pro-bullying bystander behaviors.These results provided suggestions for future pro-bullying bystander behaviors intervention. |
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