Citation

Xiong Y, Wang Y, Wang Q, Zhang H, Yang L, Ren P. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00787-022-02059-7

PMID

35927525

Abstract

Studies have demonstrated that bullying victimization is a risk factor for depressive symptoms; however, little is known about the underlying processes that may mediate or moderate this relationship. To address this research gap, this study examined the mediating effects of personal and general belief in a just world (BJW) and the moderating effect of classroom-level victimization on the relationship between bullying victimization and depressive symptoms. Using a short-term longitudinal design, two-wave data were obtained from 2,551 Chinese adolescents (initial age = 12.99 ± 0.61, 52.2% boys) from 47 classes over 6 months. The results indicated that Time 1 personal BJW mediated the relationship between Time 1 bullying victimization and Time 2 depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the mediating effect of Time 1 personal BJW was moderated by Time 1 classroom-level victimization; this effect was stronger for adolescents in classrooms with low levels of victimization. These findings contribute to our understanding of how and when bullying victimization impacts youth depressive symptoms. Education practitioners should pay special attention to personal BJW in victimized adolescents, especially when classroom-level victimization is low.

Language: en

Keywords

Bullying victimization; Depressive symptoms; Belief in a just world; Classroom-level victimization; Healthy context paradox