A person-centered approach to resilience against bullying victimization in adolescence: Predictions from teacher support and peer support

Abstract

BackgroundThere is ample evidence that bullying victimization typically has deleterious effects on the developmental outcomes of adolescents, while little research attention has been paid to those who show “resilient” despite the stress associated with being bullied. This study aimed to identify such a group according to the severity of exposure to bullying victimization and psychological adaptation in terms of negative (i.e., depressive symptoms) as well as positive (i.e., subjective well-being) aspects, and to examine their associations with interpersonal sources in school ecology (i.e., teacher support and peer support) using a short-term longitudinal design. MethodsLatent profile analysis was performed on a sample of 2339 adolescents in junior high schools (Mage = 12.97 ± 0.58 years, 51.1 % boys). ResultsThe presence of a resilient (8.0 %) profile was identified, along with three other distinct profiles: normative (59.2 %), vulnerable (29.0 %), and adverse (3.8 %). Despite experiencing bullying victimization of comparable severity, adolescents who reported more teacher support and peer support were more likely to classify to the “Resilient” profile. LimitationsA broader range of malleable resource factors should be considered to enhance a nuanced understanding of what resource factors contribute to resilience. Multiple reporting sources should be applied to overcome information bias. And the results need to be verified across different cultural contexts, age groups, and regions. ConclusionsThese findings add a new contribution to the literature by highlighting the utility of a person-centered approach in the field of victimization resilience studies and the important roles of teacher and peer support against bullying victimization. Future prevention and early intervention could consider support from teachers and peers as potentially robust and malleable targets.