When victimization hurts more: Psychological disability status moderates the relationships between bullying victimization and mental health outcomes among college students

Abstract

Objective We examined differences in prevalence and severity for three victimization types (traditional and cyberbullying, technology-facilitated sexual exploitation) among college students who reported/did not report a psychological disability. Furthermore, we explored disability status as a moderator of victimization-health outcome relations (depression, anxiety, stress, substance use, and somatic symptoms).Participants & Methods We collected two waves of survey data from 138 fourth-year students from two US-based universities.Results We found that students who reported a psychological disability reported higher prevalence/severity of cyberbullying victimization. Additionally, disability status moderated the prospective relationships between Wave 1 traditional bullying victimization and Wave 2 substance use, such that individuals who reported a psychological disability had a stronger positive relationship. Conversely, the prospective relationships between Wave 1 traditional bullying victimization and Wave 2 depression and stress were weaker among people who reported a psychological disability.Conclusions These findings have implications for prevention/intervention among college students with disabilities.