From victims to aggressors: the link between childhood family abuse and adolescent peer bullying.

Abstract

Background: Adolescent bullying and childhood family abuse are widespread social issues with lasting negative effects on victims' psychological health and behavior. Research suggests that childhood family abuse increases the likelihood of adolescents engaging in bullying. However, the dynamic relationship between these two phenomena, particularly the mechanisms involved, has been understudied.

Objective: This study aims to explore how childhood family abuse leads to adolescent bullying behavior through the mediating roles of loneliness and delinquent peer affiliation, offering a theoretical basis for bullying prevention and intervention.

Methods: A total of 2,042 middle school students participated in the study, consisting of 1,086 males (53.18%) (mean [SD] age, 14.23 [7.59]), and 956 females (46.82%) (mean [SD] age, 13.90 [7.60]). Validated instruments were used to assess childhood trauma (CTS), loneliness (ULS-6), deviant peer affiliation, and bullying behavior. SPSS 21.0 and JASP 0.17 were used for data analysis, with chain mediation analysis conducted to examine the mediating roles of loneliness and deviant peer affiliation.

Results: Based on the data analysis of 2,042 participants, this study found that childhood abuse, loneliness, deviant peer interaction and bullying behavior were significantly positively correlated (p < 0.001), among which childhood abuse was most strongly correlated with loneliness (r = 0.43), and deviant peer interaction was most closely associated with bullying behavior (r = 0.25). The mediation model further revealed that childhood abuse not only directly and positively predicted loneliness (β = 0.894, p < 0.01, R² = 18.4%) and bullying behavior, but also indirectly affected bullying through a dual mediation path. When loneliness and deviant peer interaction were included at the same time, the model's explanation rate for bullying behavior increased to 9.8% (R² = 0.098).

Conclusion: Childhood abuse is linked to bullying behavior, with loneliness and dysfunctional peer interactions serving as contributing factors. These findings highlight key pathways in the victim-to-perpetrator transition and inform targeted bullying prevention strategies. Future longitudinal research should prioritize clarifying these causal relationships.