A structural equation model investigating the relationships among online and offline social capitals and child polyvictimization

Social capital is a term proposed in literature to define the relationship between adverse experiences and their negative impacts. Despite evidence of correlation between offline social capital (e.g., from parents, peers and school in real life) and health effects, there is a lack of research comparing the role of online social capital (e.g., from online acquaintances and social network platforms) with offline social capitals in child polyvictimization. This study aims to investigate the effects of child polyvictimization operating through multiple forms of social capital (e.g., victimization by parents, teachers and peers or on cyberspace) on depression in children. A total of 1213 students in Grades 7-9 from boarding schools in rural China participated in the study. The structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to specify the structure between observed indicators and latent constructs categorized as online or offline social capitals. Results showed that 54.7% of the participants reported at least one form of victimization in their lifetime and 19.8% reported peer polyvictimization. The relationship between victimization and depression showed that offline social capitals fully mediated victimization by teachers and peers, whereas online social capitals fully mediated the relationships between cyber victimization and depression. The findings offer insights for proactive intervention to improve online and offline social capital in polyvictimization prevention.