Peer victimization and school refusal tendencies in early adolescence: A random intercept cross‐lagged panel model analysis

Abstract

Although peer victimization and school refusal tendencies are well documented in early adolescence, the specific within‐person directional associations between the two remain underexplored. Employing a three‐wave Random Intercept Cross‐Lagged Panel Model (RI‐CLPM), this study disentangled stable between‐person differences from within‐person fluctuations in a sample of 510 Chinese early adolescents (53.92% boys; M _age at T1 = 10.30 years, SD  = .61), and explored potential gender differences in these processes. Results showed that at the within‐person level, peer victimization significantly predicted prospective school refusal tendencies—a directional transmission most prominent during the initial wave interval (T1–T2)—whereas school refusal tendencies did not predict prospective peer victimization. Multi‐group analysis indicated no significant gender differences in these cross‐lagged associations. These findings highlight the developmentally sensitive role of peer victimization in precipitating school avoidance and emphasize the need for trait‐controlled, timely peer interventions.