Longitudinal Relationships Between Bullying Victimization and Dual Social Behaviors: The Roles of Self-Compassion and Trauma-Related Shame

Abstract

Purpose

Bullying victimization is a serious issue among college students, which might affect the development of their social behaviors. Based on the theory of stress and coping and emotion regulation theory, the present study examined the mediating role of self-compassion and trauma-related shame between bullying victimization and cyber aggression/prosocial behavior.

Patients and Methods

We gathered self-reporting data on bullying victimization, self-compassion, trauma-related shame, cyber aggression, and prosocial behavior from 634 college students in China using a three-wave longitudinal design survey. Structural equation modeling was used to test temporal mediation.

Results

The results showed that bullying victimization predicted cyber aggression and prosocial behavior via trauma-related shame and the chain effect of self-compassion and trauma-related shame. Moreover, self-compassion also mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and prosocial behavior.

Conclusion

The study revealed the different emotional processes that underlie both bullying victimization and different social behaviors. It also contributes to more effective prevention and intervention measures for the social adaptation of bullied students.

Keywords:

• bullying victimization
• self-compassion
• trauma-related shame
• cyber aggression
• prosocial behavior
• emotional mechanisms

Ethics Approval

This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University (protocol number: No.12220085). The study complied with the Declaration of Helsinki. We also obtained informed consent from the parents of participants under 18 years of age.

Informed Consent

All participants gave informed consent before their inclusion in the study.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of “the Humanities and Social Sciences Project of the Ministry of Education of China” (Project No. 22YJC190023).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.