Unpacking the dynamics involved in the impact of bullying victimization on adolescent suicidal ideation: Testing general strain theory in the Korean context

•GST is useful to explain the effect of bullying victimization on suicidal ideation.•Negative emotions partially mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation.•The effect of negative emotions on suicidal ideation decreased when the victim had a high level of self-esteem. The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamics involved in the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation within the general strain theory (GST) framework. We examined the effect of two types of bullying victimization (traditional bullying victimization and cyberbullying victimization) on Korean adolescent suicidal ideation with focusing on the role of negative emotions as a mediator and the role of self-esteem as a moderator. We estimated a series of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using the statistical software Mplus 8.0. Both types of bullying victimization had significant and positive effects on adolescent suicidal ideation. Also, negative emotions partially mediated these relationships. Last, the effect of negative emotions on suicidal ideation decreased when the victim had a relatively high level of self-esteem, while the moderating effect of self-esteem was not significant between bullying victimization and negative emotions. Overall, GST was useful for explaining the linkage of bullying victimization and adolescent suicidal ideation in this Korean sample.