The Relationship between Coping Strategies and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems of Bullied Students: The Moderating Role of Classroom Discipline Management

Bullying has become a worldwide concern, and is particularly serious in vocational high schools in China. The bullied students typically resort to coping strategies to mitigate its adverse consequences. However, there is a lack of research on which bullying coping strategies might mitigate the negative effects of bullying on students and which types of classroom discipline management might play a moderating role. The participants were 1483 students from a vocational high school. The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire was used to identify 251 students who had experienced bullying. The results showed that: cognitive distancing significantly negatively predicted the externalizing problems of bullied students, while revenge seeking significantly positively predicted their externalizing problems. Seeking adult support and cognitive distancing significantly and negatively predicted the internalizing problems, while passive coping significantly positively predicted their internalizing problems. Discipline management played a moderating role in the relationship between coping strategies and externalizing problems. These findings suggest that seeking support from teachers and parents through open communication is encouraged, as it was shown to reduce internalizing problems. While cognitive distancing may offer temporary relief, revenge seeking and passive coping had detrimental effects on externalizing or internalizing problems. Positive disciplinary management mitigated externalizing problems for bullied students who used passive coping. However, punitive management potentially exacerbated externalizing problems for students who sought revenge. Furthermore, SEL programs only benefited those with low levels of passive coping. Special attention needs to be paid to bullied students who use passive coping or seek revenge, and guide them toward more adaptive responses.