BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.14, No.2, 2023 1776 

 

 

 

 

Longitudinal Associations between Physical and Rela-

tional Victimization and Student Academic Achieve-

ment in Early Adolescence: A Cross-lagged Panel 

Study 

By Li, T., Ma, Y., Song, R., & Chen, L. 
Correspondence to: Liang Chen, Shandong Normal University, Shandong, China. 

E-mail: chen_liang1010@126.com 

CADEMIC adjustments and peer relationships are two crucial aspects 

of adolescent school adaptation. Peer victimization is a risk factor in 

student academic achievement; at the same time, poor academic performance 

can potentially cause peer victimization. With peer victimization, individuals 

experience aggressions from peers, which can be physical or relational. Phys-

ical victimization refers to their being physically attacked by peers, such as 

being hit, pushed, and kicked; in relational victimization, they are subjected 

to non-physical attacks, such as social exclusion and rumor dissemination. 

This study adopted cross-lagged panel research design, using self-

reported physical and relational victimization as the indicator of peer victim-

ization and terminal examination results as that of academic performance, to 

examine the interplay of peer victimization and academic achievement in ad-

olescents between the fifth and eighth grades. Research results showed that: 

(i) relational victimization occurring in the fifth grade significantly and nega-

tively predicted student academic performance; (ii) the sixth and seventh 

grade academic achievement significantly and negatively predicted physical 

and relational victimization in the ensuing year, with no noticeable difference 

in its effects on the two forms of peer victimization; (iii) there was no promi-

nent gender difference in the longitudinal associations between academic re-

sults and the two forms of peer victimization; (iv) The effect of academic 

performance on physical victimization varied in different phases, tending to 

aggravate with age. 

The article proposed academic level-specific suggestions for peer vic-

timization mitigation. In the primary stage, the focus should be placed on de-

tecting peer victimization (especially relational victimization) and adminis-

tering timely intervention to avoid the vicious cycle of academic adjustment 

difficulty and peer victimization in pupils. In the junior secondary stage, ed-

ucators must instruct students not to judge peers by their current academic 

results and help low-performing students to establish positive peer relation-

ships and gain positive peer experience in order to protect low-achieving 

A 

mailto:chen_liang1010@126.com


 

Vol.14, No.2, 2023 1777 

teenagers from physical and relational harm induced by academic underper-

formance. 

 
Source: Psychological Development and Education, 2023; 2023(4):559-567.