Relations Between Peer Victimization And Self-esteem In Middle School Students:Mediating Effect Of Coping Style

Peer victimization refers to being kicked,shoved,bullied,gossiped about or exclude by peer among middle school students.Self-esteem refers to the positive evaluation and experience gained by individuals in the process of socialization.This paper consisted of two studies,aiming at investigating the characteristics of peer victimization of middle school students and its relationship with their self-esteem.Study 1 aimed to revise the Multidimensional Offline and Online Peer Victimization scale(MOOPV).Study 2 aimed to explore the effect of peer victimization of middle school students on their self-esteem and to examine the mediate effect of coping style on the relationship between peer victimization and self-esteem.Study 1:Revision of the Multidimensional Offline and Online Peer Victimization scale(MOOPV).480 students from 2 middle schools in Jinzhou,Liaoning Province agreed to participate in this study.Students were asked to complete the Chinese version of MOOVP and Delaware Bullying Victimization Scale.A total of 454 valid questionnaires were got.A Chinese version of MOOVP(MOOVP-C)was obtained through item test,EFA and CFA.Results showed that the MOOVP-C had 20 items,which were divided into 4 dimensions(each dimension had 5 items).The 4 dimensions were direct offline peer victimization,indirect offline peer victimization,direct online peer victimization and indirect online peer victimization.The overall internal consistency of the MOOVP-C was 0.904 and the internal consistency of each dimension was above 0.816.The correlation coefficients between the 4 dimensions of the MOOVP-C with the total score of the scale ranged from 0.716 to 0.830.Moreover,the correlation coefficients between the 4 dimensions of the MOOVP-C and the dimensions of the Delaware Bullying Victimization scale ranged from 0.187 to 0.581.Study 2:Examining the mediate effect of coping style on the relationship between peer victimization of middle school students and their self-esteem.360 students from one middle school in Jinzhou,Liaoning Province agreed to participate in this study.Participants were asked to complete the MOOVP-C,Self-Rating Questionnaire and Coping Style Scale of Middle School Students.A total of 326 valid questionnaires were got.Results showed that the 4 dimensions of the MOOVP-C were negatively correlated with self-esteem and the coping style of problem-solving.The copying style of problem-solving was positively correlated with self-esteem.Direct offline and indirect online peer victimization can negatively predict middle school students'self-esteem,while the coping style of problem-solving can positively predict their self-esteem.The coping style of problem-solving had a mediate effect on the relationship between direct offline peer victimization of middle school students and their self-esteem,the mediate effect of the coping style of problem-solving accounted for 33.8%of the total effect.On the other hand,the coping style of problem-solving had a mediate effect on the relationship between indirect online peer victimization and self-esteem,the mediate effect accounted for 27.5%of the total effect.The main conclusions are as following:(1)The reliability and validity of the MOOVP-C were acceptable,and it can be used as a highly useful and valid tool to measure peer victimization among Chinese middle school students.(2)The coping style of problem-solving had mediate effects on the relationship between direct offline peer victimization of middle school students and their self-esteem as well as the relationship between indirect online peer victimization of middle school students and their self-esteem.