Parental Psychological Control and Peer Victimization among Chinese Adolescents: The Effect of Peer Pressure as a Mediator

Peer victimization is a serious problem among children and adolescents. Family and peers are two of the most proximal and influential microsystems for children. The present study examined the influence of parental psychological control and peer pressure on peer victimization. According to social learning theory and attachment theory, parent-child interactions may serve as a model of peer interactions. Therefore, we proposed the hypothesis that peer pressure functioned as a mediator in the association between parental psychological control and peer victimization. We tested this hypothesis in a sample of Chinese adolescents and examined whether this mediation model varied by gender. Participants were 2382 seventh grade students (1166 girls and 1216 boys) in Beijing, China. The results showed that both parental psychological control and peer pressure were positively associated with peer victimization in Chinese adolescents. Additionally, peer pressure partially mediated the effect of psychological control on peer victimization. Furthermore, multi-group comparisons showed that gender differences existed in the mediation model. The direct effect of psychological control on peer victimization was a little larger in boys, whereas the indirect effect was larger in girls. The findings suggest that parental psychological control contributes to peer victimization in non-Western culture as well. These findings also improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in peer victimization by interrelating family and peer factors.