Do Peer Cliques and Gender Differences Shape Adolescent Depression Under Bullying? Exploring the Mediating Power of Cognitive Biases

The Healthy Context Paradox suggests that victims of bullying struggle more with psychological adjustment in environments with low victimization norms. This study, guided by Beck's Model of Depression, explores this phenomenon through a cognitive lens. Using data from 2091 Chinese junior high students (54.3% boys, mean age 13.26), we identified cliques via the Social Cognitive Map and examined the mediating role of cognitive biases and the moderating role of clique-level victimization norms in the link between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. Results showed that cognitive biases partially mediated the link between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. While clique victimization norms moderated the association between peer victimization and cognitive biases, they had no significant relation to depressive symptoms. In low victimization norm cliques, peer victimization showed a stronger association with cognitive biases, especially in all-girl cliques, whereas this association was observed in all-boy cliques irrespective of norms. The moderating effects of clique victimization norms on the association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms were non-significant in all-boy and mixed-gender cliques. These findings suggest that integrating the Healthy Context Paradox with Beck's Model can inform depressive symptom prevention strategies, particularly in bullying-prone environments.