Peer status buffers the detrimental Effects of peer victimization on School Burnout among chinese adolescents via negative cognition

The primary objective of this two-wave longitudinal study was to determine whether peer status or negative cognition could account for the well-established relationships between peer victimization and school burnout. In total, 655 students from two junior high schools (Mage = 12.7 years) were assessed at two time points over a 12-month interval. Baseline measures included self-reported and peer-nominated peer victimization, self-reported negative cognition and school burnout, and peer-nominated peer status. After one year, school burnout was again measured. Using a longitudinal mediating model, it was found that adolescents who perceived peer victimization at baseline were more likely to experience school burnout one year later owing to increased elevated negative cognition (mediation effect β = 0.09, 95% bias-corrected bootstrap = [0.06–0.14]). This effect was also moderated by peer status, such that among adolescents with lower peer status, baseline peer victimization was associated with significantly higher rates of school burnout after 12 months (β = 0.22, p < .01), whereas the same was not true for those with high peer status. The current study will help educators better understand the potential mechanism by which they could alleviate adolescent student school burnout by reducing the cognitive bias of bullied adolescents with poor peer status.