Adolescents Experiencing Both Bullying and Childhood Trauma: Longitudinal Patterns, Psychosocial Networks, and Risk...

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Adolescent Health
• Trauma Studies

Background:

• Dual adversities like school bullying and family maltreatment heighten adolescent psychological harm risk.
• Limited understanding exists on how these adversities co-develop and impact psychosocial functioning over time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify joint developmental trajectories of bullying victimization and childhood trauma in adolescents.
• To examine psychosocial network characteristics associated with these trajectories.
• To predict high-risk membership using machine learning models.

Main Methods:

• A three-wave longitudinal study of 1,246 middle school students in central China.
• KmL3D clustering to identify developmental trajectories.
• Network analyses to assess psychosocial relationships.
• Six machine learning models, including Random Forest, for trajectory prediction.

Main Results:

• Three distinct trajectories identified: lower dual trauma declining, high childhood trauma fluctuating, and higher dual trauma declining.
• Protective factors (teacher-student ties, peer attachment, gratitude, control, self-efficacy) weakened under adversity; depression and psychache became central.
• Random Forest model achieved high accuracy (AUC=0.97) in predicting trajectory membership, with emotional distress and poor peer attachment as key indicators.

Conclusions:

• Adolescent poly-victimization trajectories are heterogeneous and influenced by distinct psychosocial systems.
• Early identification of emotional pain and relational deficits is crucial.
• Trauma-informed, school-based interventions are recommended to prevent re-victimization and long-term harm.