Victimization stability, emotion dysregulation and suicidal ideation in adolescents

Studies have shown that bullying victimization and emotion regulation difficulties are associated with an increased risk for suicidal ideation and attempts among adolescents. Evidence also showed that these variables might interact in predicting negative outcomes, with emotion dysregulation being more strongly associated with suicide attempts when victimization is present. The current longitudinal study aimed to investigate, in a sample of Italian middle school students, the influence of bullying victimization frequency, emotion dysregulation (i.e., Emotional Reactivity, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Affective Instability), and their interaction on suicidal ideation over four months. The sample included 321 middle-school students (49.50% females) aged 12-14 years (mean = 12.99, SD = .28). Results showed that both stable and intermittent victimizations were associated with suicidal ideation, with stable victims exhibiting the most significant risk. Also, affective instability was linked to suicidal ideation, but emotional reactivity and interpersonal sensitivity were not. Lastly, our results suggested a trend-level interaction effect between intermittent victimization and interpersonal sensitivity in predicting suicidal ideation; however, probing indicated that higher interpersonal sensitivity was significantly associated with greater suicidal ideation among intermittent victims only. Further analysis showed that higher interpersonal sensitivity was associated with greater suicidal ideation among intermittent victims, suggesting that the combination of intermittent bullying victimization and heightened sensitivity to social cues may characterize an important risk factor for suicidal ideation among adolescents.