The relationship between community violence exposure and traditional bullying among Chinese adolescents: the multiple mediating roles of deviant peer affiliation and internet game disorder

Bullying is a common public safety issue among adolescents, which has an impact on their healthy growth. There is a need for research on the causes and mechanisms of this phenomenon among adolescents. This study involved a total of 603 Chinese adolescents who completed a self-reported questionnaire on community violence exposure, deviant peer affiliation, internet game disorder, and traditional bullying. These participants included 291 boys and 312 girls with a mean age of 13.81 years (SD = 1.76). We applied the structural equation model (SEM) to explore the relationship between community violence exposure and traditional bullying, and the mediating roles of deviant peer affiliation and internet game disorder. The results of the indicated that community violence exposure may predict traditional bullying, and the mediating effect of deviant peer affiliation and internet game disorder in this relationship are significant. The discovery of the present study that provide important theoretical reference value for parents and educators to intervene in traditional bullying among adolescents.