Patterns and Transitions of Bullying Participant Roles: the Predictive Roles of Self- and Peer-perceived Peer Status

Bullying operates as a group process involving different participant roles, whose interactions shape how bullying unfolds. However, research delineating the profiles and transitions of these roles, as well as the influence of self- and peer-perceived peer status on such dynamics, remains limited. Using latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis, this study examined the profiles and transitions of five distinct bullying participant roles (i.e., perpetrators, victims, followers, defenders, and outsiders) among Chinese adolescents, along with the predictive roles of self-perceived and peer-perceived peer status (i.e., likeability and popularity), respectively. A total of 3769 adolescents (50.6% boy at T1; Mage = 12.78; SD = 0.45) participated in the study across two waves over a six-month period. Four bullying roles profiles were identified at both time points: (1) non-involved, (2) victim, (3) perpetrator-follower, and (4) defender-outsider. The majority of adolescents either maintained their membership in their initial group or transitioned into the non-involved group over the study period. Furthermore, adolescents with higher peer-perceived status were more likely to belong to, or transition toward, more adaptive patterns of involvement, such as non-involved or defender-outsider, whereas self-perceived likeability and popularity demonstrated more nuanced and mixed associations across profiles. These findings deepen understanding of the diverse patterns that characterize adolescents’ involvement across bullying participant roles and indicate that peer-perceived status is the most powerful and protective predictor of maintaining more adaptive patterns of bullying involvement.