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Based on an integrated general strain theory, this study involved testing negative emotions (i.e., anxiety and depression), a social learning variable (i.e., attitude toward bullying), and a social control variable (i.e., attachment to school) as possible mediators of the strain–bullying relationship. A group comparison was also conducted to examine possible differences between migrant and non-migrant children. Data used in the study were derived from a questionnaire survey with a school-based multistage random sample of 1,666 children in Grades 4 to 9 in Nanjing and Guangzhou, China. Structural equation modeling and group comparison were performed with AMOS 25.0 to test the hypothesized model. The findings indicated that attitude toward bullying and attachment to school but not negative emotions mediated the strain–bullying relationship. The results also revealed that the mediation model was applicable to both migrant and non-migrant children, albeit with significant differences in certain paths within the model. The study’s framework bridged the integrated general strain theory and its typical emphasis on crime or delinquency with the pervasive behavior of school bullying in the context of Chinese rural-to-urban migration. Implications for theory and practice were discussed.

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Compared with their non-migrant peers, migrant children in China face major risks and challenges that may cause them to develop behavioral and psychological problems. Nevertheless, research has seldom addressed their victimization by bullies and its association with their mental health outcomes, much less the roles of intrapersonal and interpersonal sources of resilience in that relationship. In response, this study was designed to examine how bullying victimization both directly and indirectly influences migrant children’s mental health through intrapersonal and interpersonal sources of resilience. Data were collected from a school-based multistage random sample of 1,132 migrant children in Grades 4–9 (mean age = 11.88 years, range = 8–17 years; boys = 55.6%) attending public schools in Nanjing and private schools in Guangzhou, China. Structural equation modeling performed with Amos 25.0 revealed that both intrapersonal and interpersonal sources of resilience mediated the effect of bullying victimization on migrant children’s mental health, albeit intrapersonal sources demonstrated a slightly stronger mediation effect. The results thus suggest that social workers and educators should provide effective prevention and intervention strategies that promote intrapersonal and interpersonal sources of resilience among migrant children in China.

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