Does Parental Support Moderate the Association Between Bullying Victimization and Anti-bullying Attitudes Among Chinese Adolescents

This study investigated the effects of three types of bullying victimization (relational, verbal, and physical) on attitudes toward anti-bullying, moderated by the role of parental support. The data used in this study were obtained from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, a survey conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that included responses from 11,990 Chinese adolescents aged 15 years. Multivariate regression modeling and the Johnson–Neyman technique were used to examine the moderating effect of parental support on the relationship between the three types of bullying victimization and attitudes toward bullying. The results indicated that the three types of bullying victimization were significantly and positively correlated with students’ anti-bullying attitudes. Furthermore, parental support moderated the relationship between the three types of bullying victimization and anti-bullying attitudes. Specifically, when the value of parental support was less than 84.215, 81.728, and 69.878, relational, verbal, and physical bullying victimization, respectively, had a significant positive effect on adolescents’ anti-bullying attitudes through the moderating effect of parental support. These findings suggest that parents should provide care and support to children who are victims of bullying.