The Diversity Effect of Psychological Resilience on the Relationship between Bullying Victimization and Multiple...

This study aimed to explore the relationship between bullying victimization and multiple psychological symptoms among Chinese adolescents and to evaluate the moderating role of psychological resilience in this relationship. Using large-scale regional data from a county in northeastern China (N = 22,264), we identified bullying victimization subtypes through latent class analysis (LCA), quantified comorbidity risks via multinomial logistic regression, and examined the moderating effects of resilience across subgroups. Three victimization profiles emerged: non-victimized (80.9%), moderately victimized (13.6%), and poly-victimized (5.5%) groups. Compared to the non-victimized group, the moderately victimized group demonstrated higher odds ratios (ORs) for multiple psychological symptoms (all three symptoms: OR = 6.872; any two symptoms: OR = 4.470; any one symptom: OR = 2.610). The poly-victimized group exhibited significantly higher odds across all symptom categories (all three symptoms: OR = 43.678; any two symptoms: OR = 18.246; any one symptom: OR = 5.974). Resilience demonstrated heterogeneous moderation effects: it showed no significant interaction in the moderately victimized group, whereas it was associated with significant risk amplification in the poly-victimized group (OR = 1.040, p < 0.001). Bullying victimization is significantly associated with concurrent psychological symptoms. However, resilience does not universally buffer against stress. For adolescents subjected to severe poly-victimization, high levels of resilience appear to amplify psychological risks instead of providing a buffering effect. The findings suggest that tailored intervention strategies should prioritize victimization severity rather than adopt a universal resilience-promotion approach.