Witnessing Parental Intimate Partner Violence and Cyberbullying Perpetration in Emerging Adulthood: The Chain-Mediating Effects of Self-Differentiation and Core Self-Evaluation

The present study explored the association between witnessing parental Intimate partner violence (IPV) and cyberbullying perpetration in emerging adulthood. Furthermore, a chain-mediated model was tested to examine the roles of self-differentiation and core self-evaluation in this relationship. A total of 1,186 Chinese college students (Mage = 19.59, SD = 1.32; 540 males, 646 females) completed self-report measures of parental IPV, self-differentiation, core self-evaluation, and cyberbullying perpetration. SPSS 25.0 was used to evaluate self-differentiation and core self-evaluation as chain-mediators of the direct and indirect relationships between witnessing parental IPV and cyberbullying perpetration in emerging adulthood. The findings revealed that emerging adults who experienced parental IPV were more likely to engage in cyberbullying toward others. This relationship was sequentially mediated by self-differentiation and core self-evaluation. Our study revealed how witnessing parental IPV is related to cyberbullying perpetration in emerging adulthood and the underlying mechanisms involved. These insights provide new viewpoints on how witnessing parental IPV influences cyberbullying perpetration among emerging adults in the digital age and highlight the importance of addressing issues of self-differentiation and core self-evaluation in intervention strategies.