Bouncing Back from Bullying: Resilience and Benefit-Finding in Victims of Bullying
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Abstract
The present study investigates the role of resilience and benefit-finding in facilitating victims’ “bouncing back” from school bullying. A sample of 200 students from the University of Calgary participated in the present study. Results indicate that trait-resilience significantly predicted victims’ well-being, suggesting that resilience may partially explain why some victims of bullying successfully “bounce back.” Additionally, trait-resilience significantly predicted victims’ benefit-finding, indicating that benefit-finding may be a behaviour associated with resilience in the context of bullying. Lastly, results of a mediation model suggest that benefit-finding may partially explain why victims who are high in trait-resilience exhibit positive well-being following bullying experiences. Results also suggest a potential difference between finding some emotional benefit of bullying experiences versus developing behavioural resilience (i.e., coping strategies) through bullying experiences. Implications for the field of school bullying and resilience are discussed as well as potential impacts on the development of interventions are discussed.