The effect of cyberbullying victimization and traditional bullying victimization on suicidal ideation among Chinese female college students: The role of rumination and insomnia

Background: The issue of college student suicide has emerged as a significant global public health concern. To date, there has been a lack of extensive research on the effects of distinct forms of bullying victimization (traditional bullying victimization and cyberbullying victimization) on suicidal ideation, as well as the differences between them. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between two forms of bullying victimization and suicidal ideation among female college students, while also considering the potential mediating effects of rumination and insomnia.Methods: A total of 2106 female college students from Southern China participated in this study. The participants had a mean age of 19.83 years (SD = 1.04 years). Participants completed the MINI-C questionnaire, School Bullying Behavior Questionnaire, Cyberbullying Inventory (CBI), Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). The mediation models were conducted using Model 4 and Model 6 of the Process macro program in SPSS.Results: The results showed that (1) the mediating effect of rumination in the relationship between different forms of bullying victimization and suicidal ideation was significant; (2) The mediating effect of insomnia in the relationship between traditional bullying victimization and suicidal ideation was not significant; the mediating effect between cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation was significant. (3) The chain mediating effect of rumination and insomnia in the relationship between different forms of bullying victimization and suicidal ideation were both significant.Conclusion: This study endeavor represents the first attempt to investigate the relationship between two forms of bullying victimization and suicidal ideation.

Automated summary

This study is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between two forms of bullying victimization and suicidal ideation. The results showed that rumination plays an important mediating role in the relationship between different forms of bullying victimization and suicidal ideation, while the mediating effect of insomnia was not significant in the relationship between traditional bullying victimization and suicidal ideation, but was significant in the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, both rumination and insomnia had significant chain mediating effects between different forms of bullying victimization and suicidal ideation.