Effect of Childhood Maltreatment and Peer Victimization on Antisocial Behavior in Chinese Left-Behind Children: A Latent Profile and Mediation Analysis

Left-behind children (LBC) face the high incidence of childhood maltreatment and peer victimization, which further increases their risk of engaging in antisocial behavior. Few studies simultaneously considered adverse childhood experiences and the associations with antisocial behavior in LBC. This study used latent profile analysis to identify profiles of childhood maltreatment and peer victimization of LBC, as well as the mediating role of psychological capital between latent profiles and antisocial behavior. A total of 1004 LBC (50.1% girls, M age = 11.65, SD = 1.24) participated in the study. After 1 year (Time 2), the data of 931 participants were collected. The profiles of childhood maltreatment and peer victimization in LBC were identified: low risk, doubly disadvantaged, and severe neglect. Compared with low risk, doubly disadvantaged and severe neglect had higher level of antisocial behavior a year later. Taking low risk as a reference, doubly disadvantaged significantly positively predicted LBC’s antisocial behavior, and psychological capital played a partial mediating role between the links. Taking low risk as a reference, severe neglect had a significant predictive effect on antisocial behavior through the mediation of psychological capital. The results of this study help to understand the potential complexity of adverse childhood experiences in LBC. It provides theoretical support for the prevention and intervention of antisocial behavior in LBC.