2024 Volume 72 Issue 2 Pages 110-120
Bullying victimization has been shown to have long-term effects on bullied individuals, not only in the immediate aftermath of the bullying, but also in adolescence. The process of recovery from the long-term effects of bullying includes recovery from mental health problems and psychological transformation. Although resilience promotes mental health during the process of recovery, the relationship between mental health and psychological transformation such as post-traumatic growth has not been wholly supported by previous studies. The present study focuses on meaning-making with reference to organismic value theory, and examines how the processes of post-traumatic growth and resilience affect recovery from mental health problems and psychological transformation after bullying. Japanese college students (245 males, 173 females, and 2 unidentified; mean age 19.1 years) completed a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling resulted in the identification of appropriate models for both low and high qualitative resilience groups. A comparison of the models resulted in the adoption of a path equality constraint model. The present study revealed that an aspect of the long-term effects of bullying includes factors that promote recovery of mental health from assimilation through acquired resilience. The discussion deals with implications of the present study and the importance of support for meaning-making after bullying, with consideration of the bullied individuals' innate resilience.
