Association between bullying victimization, anxiety and depression in childhood and adolescence: The mediating effect of self-esteem

Abstract

Bullying is a serious psychosocial problem that impacts negatively on victims, and it is one of the main risk factors for the development of psychological problems and psychopathological symptoms in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. This study analyzes the mediating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between bullying victimization and the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms. The sample comprised 550 children and adolescents (56.5% women) aged between 10 and 17 years (M = 12.20, SD = 1.75) from the Basque Country, each of whom completed a battery of instruments consisting of a sociodemographic variables data sheet, a questionnaire for evaluating peer victimization, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Educational-Clinical Questionnaire: Anxiety and Depression. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that bullying victimization is a risk factor for developing anxiety and depression in childhood and adolescence, and also that the relationship between bullying victimization and these two emotional problems is mediated by self-esteem. This mediating effect of self-esteem is especially important in the case of depression, insofar as the effect of bullying victimization on depression is greater when mediated by self-esteem. The implications of the results are discussed, both for the field of educational psychology and in in relation to the psychological wellbeing of children and adolescents.