Perceived Economic Stress and Adolescents’ Bullying Victimization: The Roles of Self-Esteem and Student-Student Relationships

Abstract

In the present study, we sought to examine the relationship between perceived economic stress and adolescents’ bullying victimization and extended previous literature by examining the mediating effect of self-esteem as well as the moderating effects of student-student relationships and gender in this association. The research hypotheses were tested among 2407 adolescents from China ( M age = 12.75 years, SD = 0.58) with a moderated mediation model. Results indicated that adolescents with high perceived economic stress were more likely to be bullied. Self-esteem mediated the relationship between perceived economic stress and bullying victimization. Furthermore, student-student relationships moderated the relationship between perceived economic stress and bullying victimization and the relationship between perceived economic stress and self-esteem. Gender did not moderate the direct and indirect relationships between perceived economic stress and bullying victimization. These findings have potential applications for reducing the risk of bullying victimization and promoting positive development for adolescents.