The Mediating Effect of Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy on the Association between Self-Esteem and School Bullying in Middle School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Xiaoqin Wang, Yue Zhang, Zhaozhao Hui, Wanyue Bai, Paul D. Terry, Mei Ma, Yang Li, Li Cheng, Wei Gu and Mingxu Wang
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Xiaoqin Wang: Department of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Yue Zhang: Department of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Zhaozhao Hui: Department of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Wanyue Bai: Xi’an Tieyi High School, Xi’an 710061, China
Paul D. Terry: Department of Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville, TN 37920, USA
Mei Ma: Nursing Department, Xian Yang Central Hospital, Xianyang 712000, China
Yang Li: Department of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Li Cheng: Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong, China
Wei Gu: Department of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Mingxu Wang: Department of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: School bullying is negatively associated with self-esteem, but psychological mediators of bullying have yet to be clarified. We examined regulatory emotional self-efficacy (RESE) as a possible mediator in the association between self-esteem and school bullying. A cross-sectional study of 995 adolescents was conducted in two middle schools of Xi’an. All of the participants completed the Chinese version of the School Bullying Experience Questionnaire (C-SBEQ), Self-Esteem Scale (SES), and Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale (RESE). Descriptive statistics analysis, the bias corrected percentile Bootstrap CI method, and structural equation modelling were used to analyze the data. The results showed that 418 students (42.0%) reported that they were involved in school bullying in the past year. Self-esteem was negatively associated with school bullying (total effect: β = −0.275, 95% CI = −0.381–−0.034), and RESE mediated the association between self-esteem and school bullying (indirect effect: β = −0.136, 95% CI = −0.245–−0.037). Furthermore, self-esteem had an indirect effect through perceived self-efficacy in managing negative affect, while self-esteem had no indirect effect through self-efficacy in the expression of positive affect. The present study suggests that school authorities and the related education departments should not only focus on improving students’ self-esteem, but should also pay more attention to students’ RESE, in order to mitigate, and potentially reduce, the occurrence of bullying.

Keywords: school bullying; self-esteem; regulatory emotional self-efficacy; mediating effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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