TY  - EJOU
AU  - Xie, Han 
AU  - Jiang, Yizhe 
AU  - Cui, Kunjie 

TI  - Do Victims Defend Victims? The Mediating Role of Empathy between Victimization Experience and Public-Defending Tendency in School Bullying Situations
T2  - International Journal of Mental Health Promotion

PY  - 2024
VL  - 26
IS  - 12
SN  - 2049-8543

AB  -  <b>Objectives:</b> This study investigates the association between victimization experience and the tendency to defend on behalf of victims during school bullying incidents in public settings, with a focus on the mediating effect of empathy and the moderating role of school level among Chinese children and adolescents.  <b>Methods:</b> Data were collected by a cross-sectional survey. A total of 1491 students in Grades 4–11 participated (Boys = 52.8%; Mean<sub>age</sub> = 13.00 years, Standard Deviation<sub>age</sub> = 2.31). Structural equation modeling is employed to test the hypotheses.  <b>Results:</b> The results indicate that empathy measures partially mediate the relationship between victimization experience and defending tendency in public in-school bullying situations. In particular, individuals with a history of victimization typically demonstrate lower levels of empathy. They are less likely to protect victims in school bullying situations in the presence of others, which suggests that empathy plays a significant mediating role in this relationship. Group differences were found between primary and secondary school students, which indicates that the hypothesized model should be considered through a developmental perspective. <b>Conclusions:</b> The findings of this study emphasize the importance of children’s benign peer relationships, and practitioners are encouraged to prevent victimization in schools and care for students who have been victimized; specific measures include cultivating empathy, teaching defending skills that have been found to help reduce the adverse effects of victimization, and encouraging prosocial behavior during children's socialization development.
KW  - Victimization; empathy; defending tendency; prosocial behavior; school bullying; left-behind children

DO  - 10.32604/ijmhp.2024.056533