Bullying victimization and suicidal ideation among Chinese left-behind children: mediating effect of loneliness and moderating effect of gender

Abstract Bullying victimization has long been a public health issue among left-behind children in China. Although prior studies have confirmed the negative effects of being bullied on suicidal ideation, the mechanism of how being bullied triggers suicidal ideation and whether this varies with gender difference is still unknown. To address this research gap, the mediating effect of loneliness and the moderating effect of gender were tested. Preliminary analyses suggested strongly positive significance among suicidal ideation, loneliness, and bullying victimization. The path analyses indicate that loneliness partially mediated the association between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation, and hierarchical regression analyses suggest a moderating effect of gender existed in the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation. The present study provides new evidence to support the interpersonal theory of suicide as well as the gender paradox hypothesis by shedding light on the roles which loneliness and gender play in the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation.