School climate and bullying victimization/aggression among secondary school students in China: Loneliness as a mediator

We examined the mediating role of loneliness between school climate and bullying victimization/aggression among Chinese secondary school students. Participants (N = 974) completed the Perception of School Climate Scale, the Loneliness Scale, and the Bully/Victim Questionnaire. We analyzed the mediating effect of loneliness using Model 4 of the SPSS PROCESS macro. Higher scores for perception of a supportive school climate were correlated with lower scores for feelings of loneliness and less involvement in bullying behavior. Loneliness acted as a mediator between school climate and both bullying victimization and aggressive behavior. Our results can be used as a reference to reduce bullying behavior by improving the school climate and alleviating students’ feeling of loneliness.