IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v116y2020ics0190740920308604.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The relationship between bullying victimization and online game addiction among Chinese early adolescents: The potential role of meaning in life and gender differences

Author

Listed:
  • Zhao, Haiyan
  • Li, Xiaofei
  • Zhou, Jianxiang
  • Nie, Qingqing
  • Zhou, Jianhua

Abstract

Although the risk effect of bullying victimization on youths’ online game addiction has been well established, little is known about the potential mediating and moderating mechanisms that account for the relationship between them. This study considered two dimensions of meaning in life (i.e., the presence of meaning and the search for meaning) as underlying mediating and moderating variables to explain the link between bullying victimization and online game addiction among Chinese early adolescents. We examined gender differences in these relationships. The sample included 1665 Chinese early adolescents (48.9% girls; Mage = 11.80 years, SD = 1.23) and their mothers. Latent structural equation modeling showed that the model for boys was consistent with moderation, that is, the presence of meaning buffered against the ill effects of bullying victimization on boys’ online game addiction, whereas the search for meaning amplified the association between bullying victimization and online game addiction. The model for girls was consistent with mediation, that is, the presence of meaning but not the search for meaning may have explained how victimization led to online game addiction. Suggested intervention and prevention strategies include helping youths enhance their sense of the presence of meaning and guiding male adolescents to search for positive and advanced meaning in life.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao, Haiyan & Li, Xiaofei & Zhou, Jianxiang & Nie, Qingqing & Zhou, Jianhua, 2020. "The relationship between bullying victimization and online game addiction among Chinese early adolescents: The potential role of meaning in life and gender differences," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:116:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920308604
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105261
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740920308604
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105261?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Virginia & Robin Cohen, S. & Edgar, Linda & Laizner, Andrea M. & Gagnon, Anita J., 2006. "Meaning-making intervention during breast or colorectal cancer treatment improves self-esteem, optimism, and self-efficacy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 3133-3145, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Seon, Youngwoon & Smith-Adcock, Sondra, 2023. "Adolescents’ meaning in life as a resilience factor between bullying victimization and life satisfaction," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    2. Yi Wang & Ronnel King & Shing On Leung, 2023. "Understanding Chinese Students' Well-Being: A Machine Learning Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(2), pages 581-616, April.
    3. Zhou, Jianhua & Zhang, Lulu & Gong, Xue, 2023. "Longitudinal network relations between symptoms of problematic internet game use and internalizing and externalizing problems among Chinese early adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    4. Ning Ding & Xinwen Zhang, 2022. "Bullying Victimization and Quality of Life among Chinese Adolescents: An Integrative Analysis of Internet Addiction and Social Withdrawal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Jérémie Richard & Loredana Marchica & William Ivoska & Jeffrey Derevensky, 2021. "Bullying Victimization and Problem Video Gaming: The Mediating Role of Externalizing and Internalizing Problems," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    6. Gengfeng Niu & Siyu Jin & Fang Xu & Shanyan Lin & Zongkui Zhou & Claudio Longobardi, 2022. "Relational Victimization and Video Game Addiction among Female College Students during COVID-19 Pandemic: The Roles of Social Anxiety and Parasocial Relationship," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Xiang Li & Daniel T. L. Shek & Esther Y. W. Shek, 2021. "Offline Victimization, Psychological Morbidity, and Problematic Online Behavior among Chinese Secondary School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-15, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Timothy B Smith & Connor Workman & Caleb Andrews & Bonnie Barton & Matthew Cook & Ryan Layton & Alexandra Morrey & Devin Petersen & Julianne Holt-Lunstad, 2021. "Effects of psychosocial support interventions on survival in inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings: A meta-analysis of 106 randomized controlled trials," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(5), pages 1-25, May.
    2. Kenji Noguchi, 2020. "The Meaning Frame Theory: Meaning Arises with Reference Points," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 3121-3141, December.
    3. Bo-Wen Chen & Wei-Jie Gong & Agnes Yuen-Kwan Lai & Shirley Man-Man Sit & Sai-Yin Ho & Man-Ping Wang & Nancy Xiaonan Yu & Tai-Hing Lam, 2022. "Patterns of Perceived Harms and Benefits of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Hong Kong Adults: A Latent Profile Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-12, April.
    4. Coleman-Brueckheimer, Kate & Spitzer, Joseph & Koffman, Jonathan, 2009. "Involvement of Rabbinic and communal authorities in decision-making by haredi Jews in the UK with breast cancer: An interpretative phenomenological analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 323-333, January.
    5. Kernan, William David & Lepore, Stephen J., 2009. "Searching for and making meaning after breast cancer: Prevalence, patterns, and negative affect," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1176-1182, March.
    6. Scott Sonenshein & Utpal Dholakia, 2012. "Explaining Employee Engagement with Strategic Change Implementation: A Meaning-Making Approach," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 1-23, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:116:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920308604. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.