Speaker
Description
Bullying victimization can have lasting impacts on mental health and suicide risk. Theoretical models suggest that bullying experiences create lasting patterns of interpersonal sensitivity (IPS) and negative self-beliefs (Rosen et al., 2007), which shape how individuals process and respond to social information across contexts (Crick & Dodge, 1994). This study has two goals: (1) to examine how IPS factors relate to suicidal ideation (SI), and (2) to investigate whether IPS moderates the relationship between childhood/adolescent bullying experiences and current SI. Initial analyses were based on a sample of 289 college students. A confirmatory factor analysis of IPS factors (interpersonal awareness, need for approval, separation anxiety, timidity, and inner fragility) and suicidal ideation (desire and plans) revealed substantial overlap between IPS factors, particularly separation anxiety with interpersonal awareness (r = .92) and timidity with interpersonal awareness (r = .82). This suggests an underlying global sensitivity consistent with Rosen's victim schema conceptualization. Suicidal desire and plans were highly correlated (r = .91). In a structural equation model predicting SI, inner fragility emerged as the only unique predictor of both suicidal desire and plans. This pattern aligns with theories suggesting that negative self-beliefs are a key mechanism through which IPS influences psychological distress. Planned structural equation modeling will test whether IPS factors (individually and globally) moderate the relationship between retrospective bullying victimization and SI outcomes and consider whether these relations vary as a function of participant gender. Understanding how victim schemas and interpersonal sensitivity interact with bullying experiences could inform targeted intervention strategies.
Keywords
interpersonal sensitivity, suicidal ideation, bullying victimization, victim schema, college students
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Quantitative method study |
|---|---|
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
