When Victims Become Perpetrators: Sexual Harassment, School Disengagement and Adolescent Bullying Perpetration Across 13 Countries

Bullying perpetration among adolescents remains a pressing global concern, yet the psychosocial processes that link sexual harassment victimization experiences to subsequent aggression are not fully understood. Sexual harassment has been identified as a salient risk factor, but little research has systematically examined the psychological and behavioral pathways, particularly school disconnectedness and school truancy, through which sexual harassment victimization may be statistically associated with bullying perpetration. Drawing on large-scale cross-sectional data from 13 countries ( N = 32,190), this study employed structural equation modeling to examine the direct association between sexual harassment victimization and bullying perpetration, as well as their indirect associations through school disconnectedness and truancy. Given the cross-sectional design, the indirect effects are interpreted as theoretically informed statistical associations rather than evidence of causal mediation. The structural equation model demonstrated good fit to the data. Sexual harassment victimization was positively associated with bullying perpetration both directly and indirectly through school disengagement. Both school disconnectedness and truancy significantly mediated this relationship, with truancy emerging as a comparatively stronger pathway than disconnectedness. These findings provide novel cross-national evidence on the psychosocial processes associated with sexual harassment victimization and bullying perpetration. By integrating psychological and behavioral dimensions of disengagement, the study advances theoretical models of peer aggression and underscores the need for interventions that simultaneously strengthen school connectedness and reduce truancy. Such strategies may offer globally relevant approaches to disrupting cycles of victimization and aggression in adolescence.