Abstract Background Studies have shown that COVID-19 negatively impacted mental health by increasing depression and anxiety. Additionally, bullying might deteriorate children’s psychological functioning. Nevertheless, social support has been studied as a positive bufer for mental well-being. Objectives Thus, our study aimed to examine the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak on children’s mental health when they are a victim of bullying and cyberbullying. Moreover, we tested the efect of social support as a mediating variable. A sample of 141 children (63 boys and 78 girls) 9 to 13 years old (M =10.31, SD=2.26) who reported having experienced bullying participated in the research. All were Palestinians living in Israel, attending primary schools. Methods Data was collected using the following measures, the Multidimensional Bullying Victimization Scale (MBVS), the Adolescents Cyber-Victimization Scale (CYBVICS), the Strengths and Difculties Questionnaire (SDQ), a questionnaire measuring the efect of COVID-19 on mental health outcomes, the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Structural equation modelling was applied to test the association between variables and mediating efects. Findings A positive correlation between Fear of COVID-19 and traditional bullying, cyberbullying, depression, and anxiety were found. Moreover, social support was negatively correlated with traditional forms of bullying and cyberbullying. Also, statistically signifcant diferences between traditional bullying, cyberbullying, depression, and parents’ difculties emerged from parental marital status. Conclusions fndings might help victims of bullying by training teachers and guiding parents to construct intervention plans to empower the social networks of children victims

Title

Discover Mental Health

Publisher

Springer Nature

Publisher Country

Germany

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

1.9

Publication Type

Online only

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Year

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Pages

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