Unraveling the Bidirectional Relationship Between Bullying Victimization and Perpetration: A Test of Mechanisms From Opportunity and General Strain Theories

Abstract

This study tested two theories designed to explain the bullying perpetration–victimization relationship. Peer delinquency was hypothesized to mediate the pathway from bullying perpetration to victimization, in line with opportunity, lifestyle, and routine activities theories, and anger was held to mediate the pathway from bullying victimization to perpetration as set forth in general strain theory. These pathways were tested in a sample of 3,411 youth (1,728 boys, 1,683 girls) from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. A causal mediation analysis performed on three nonoverlapping waves of data, in which prior levels of each predicted variable were controlled, uncovered support for peer delinquency as a mediator of the perpetration–victimization pathway but failed to identify anger as a mediator of the victimization–perpetration pathway. Additional research is required to identify a mediator for the victimization–perpetration pathway and determine whether variables other than peer delinquency mediate the perpetration–victimization pathway.