Social-emotional competence and school bullying of adolescents in rural western China: A cross-lagged analysis

Social-emotional competence (SEC) has been recognized as a key factor in the prevention of school bullying, but the exact relationship between these variables remains unexplored. We conducted a longitudinal study of 1,452 primary and secondary school students from rural western China. Results of a cross-lagged analysis showed that after a 2-year interval, students’ SEC showed an upward trend, while school bullying showed a downward trend. Further, students’ T1 SEC significantly and negatively predicted school bullying at T2, and school bullying at T1 significantly and negatively predicted SEC at T2, suggesting that there was a bidirectional, long-term, negative crossover relationship between SEC and school bullying. Finally, the cross-lagged models of students’ SEC and school bullying showed significant differences between left-behind and boarding children. Implications of the findings are discussed.