Title A Latent Class Growth Analysis Of School Bullying And ItsSocial Context : The Self - determination Theory Perspective

The contribution of social context to school bullying was examined from the self-determination theory perspective in this longitudinal study of 536 adolescents from three secondary schools in Hong Kong. Latent class growth analysis of the student-reported data at five time points from Grade 7 to Grade 9 identified four groups of students: bullies (9.8%), victims (3.0%), bullyvictims (9.4%), and typical students (77.8%). There was a significant association between academic tracking and group membership. Students from the school with the lowest academic performances had a greater chance of being victims and bully-victims. Longitudinal data showed that all four groups tended to report less victimization over the years. The victims and the typical students also had a tendency to report less bullying over the years but this tendency was reversed for bullies and bully-victims. Perceived support from teachers for relatedness significantly predicted membership of the groups of bullies and victims. Students with higher perceived support for relatedness from their teachers had a significantly lower likelihood of being bullies or victims. The findings have implications for the theory and practice of preventive interventions in