The indirect effects of school bullying on mathematics achievement: the mediating roles of teacher-student relationships, sense of belonging and differences between genders

Background: Previous research paid more attention to the negative effects of the bullying on psychological distress, such as anxiety and depression. However, few studies explored the underlying mechanism between bullying and mathematics achievement. The purpose of this study was to explore the direct and indirect effects of school bullying on mathematics achievement among Chinese eighth grade students.

Methods: A two-stage stratified sample design was used to select participants. The participants were all eighth grade students from a city of southwest China and 17,527 adolescents (51.7% boys, M_age = 13.34 ± 0.56 years) were included in this study. Students completed a battery of paper-and-pencil instruments concerning demographic information, school bullying, teacher-student relationships, sense of belonging, and mathematics achievement. The Two-Step Rule was employed to explore the association between school bullying and mathematics achievement.

Results: (1) There was a direct effect of school bullying on mathematics achievement (β = -0.203, 95%CI: -0.235, -0.171, p < .001); (2) Teacher-student relationships (β = -0.096, 95%CI: -0.115, -0.078, p < .001) and sense of belonging (β = -0.011, 95%CI: -0.021, -0.003, p = .010) played separate mediating roles in the link between school bullying and mathematics achievement; (3) Teacher-student relationships and sense of belonging served as chain mediators between school bullying and mathematics achievement (β = -0.011, 95%CI: -0.021, -0.003, p = .012); (4) Gender moderated the impact of school bullying on mathematics achievement (β = -0.081, p < .001).

Conclusions: These results have implications for educational staff by suggesting that teacher-student relationships and school belonging may be the two pivotal factors that future research should utilize the two factors to develop more evidence-based preventions and interventions. Moreover, more attention should be paid to girls who are victims of bullying.