Childhood psychological maltreatment and adolescent bullying victimization: The mediating role of core self-evaluation and moderating role of friendship quality.

BACKGROUND: Bullying victimization is prevalent among adolescents and adversely affects their mental health and social adjustment. Although studies have examined how family environment and parenting styles are associated with bullying victimization, the specific role of childhood psychological maltreatment and its related psychological processes have not been adequately tested. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the association between childhood psychological maltreatment and adolescent bullying victimization, as well as the mediating role of core self-evaluation and the moderating role of friendship quality. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: A total of 820 valid questionnaires were collected from a sample of Grade 10 students in a high school in Shandong Province, China, of whom 806 were included in the final analyses. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional survey design, participants completed measures of childhood psychological maltreatment, core self-evaluation, friendship quality, and bullying victimization. Data were analyzed with SPSS 26.0 using the PROCESS macro to test a moderated mediation model. RESULTS: Findings revealed that childhood psychological maltreatment was significantly and positively associated with adolescent bullying victimization; core self-evaluation partially mediated the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and bullying victimization; and friendship quality moderated the association between childhood psychological maltreatment and bullying victimization, such that the association was weaker at higher friendship quality. CONCLUSIONS: This study supported a theoretically informed pattern of associations linking childhood psychological maltreatment, core self-evaluation, friendship quality, and bullying victimization. These findings may deepen understanding of the factors associated with adolescents' bullying victimization and provide preliminary insights for family- and school-based prevention and intervention programs.