Presenter(s)

• Emily Srisarajivakul, Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia State University

Abstract

When victims attribute the cause of bullying to a stable quality within themselves, they may be more likely to blame themselves and experience negative mental health symptoms, including depression, loneliness, and social anxiety and continued bullying victimization (Graham & Juvonen, 1998). This raises the possibility that self-forgiveness and self-esteem could play a protective role for victims of bullying. This study explored self-forgiveness and self-esteem as protective roles in the relationship between past experiences of bullying and current depressive symptoms. A partial moderated-mediation model was significant, where the overall effect on the outcome variable (depressive symptoms) by the predictor (bullying experience) is not fully explained by the moderated-mediator variable (i.e., the direct effect, ‘c’, is significant). Results demonstrated that self-esteem was a significant mediator, and self-forgiveness moderated the relationship between self-esteem and depressive outcomes. Implications for future interventions are discussed.