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Bullying Victimization, Future Orientation, and Suicidal Ideation of African American Youth in an Under-Resourced Community: A Moderated-Mediation Approach

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Abstract

African American youth living in low-resourced communities are at high risk for bullying victimization which is positively associated with suicidal ideation. This study explored whether positive future orientation mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation. This study engaged 627 African American adolescents and measured bullying victimization, internalizing problems, suicidal ideation, future orientation, and several covariates. Major findings indicated that controlling for gender, socioeconomic status, school motivation, and perceived teacher support, internalizing problems mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, both the effect of bullying victimization on suicidal ideation and the mediating effect of internalizing problems were moderated by future orientation. The effects were weakened when the level of future orientation increased. The implications for future research and supporting resiliency are discussed based on these findings.

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The last author collected the data for the study, and the authors take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Center for Health Administration Studies and the STI/HIV Intervention Network at the University of Chicago, which were awarded to Dr. Dexter R. Voisin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Welfare, Sungkyunkwan University, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

    Jungtae Choi

  2. School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 5447 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA

    Jun Sung Hong & Lisa A. O’Donnell

  3. Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    Dexter R. Voisin

Authors
  1. Jungtae Choi
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  2. Jun Sung Hong
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  3. Lisa A. O’Donnell
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  4. Dexter R. Voisin
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Correspondence to Jungtae Choi.

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Choi, J., Hong, J.S., O’Donnell, L.A. et al. Bullying Victimization, Future Orientation, and Suicidal Ideation of African American Youth in an Under-Resourced Community: A Moderated-Mediation Approach. Community Ment Health J 59, 68–76 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-00989-9

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