Child Abuse & Neglect 134 (2022) 105888

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Child Abuse & Neglect

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chiabuneg

The relationship between childhood maltreatment and

adolescents' cyberbullying victimization: The new phenomenon of
a “cycle of victimization”
Jingyu Geng a, Ling Bao a, Hongxia Wang a, Jing Wang a, Xinyi Wei a, Li Lei b, *
a
Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China
b
School of Education, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Background: The research community is showing an increasing concern about the adverse out­
Childhood maltreatment comes of childhood maltreatment for adolescents. However, whether childhood maltreatment is
Cyberbullying victimization associated with cyberbullying victimization and what the underlying mechanisms of this rela­
Self-compassion
tionship are remain to be identified.
Fear of missing out
Objective: We aimed to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyber­
bullying victimization and whether self-compassion and fear of missing out (FoMO) can simul­
taneously moderate this relationship among adolescents.
Participants and setting: A sample of 1025 Chinese adolescents (50.8 % male participants, age =
15.50 ± 0.52 years) completed questionnaires regarding childhood maltreatment, cyberbullying
victimization, self-compassion, and FoMO.
Methods: Our hypotheses were tested by correlation analysis and Model 3 of the PROCESS macro.
Results: Childhood maltreatment significantly predicted adolescents' cyberbullying victimization
(β = 0.28, p < .001). High self-compassion weakened the relationship between childhood
maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization (β = − 0.10, p < .001). Furthermore, self-
compassion and FoMO simultaneously interacted with childhood maltreatment to predict
cyberbullying victimization (β = 0.08, p < .001). Specifically, high FoMO weakened the
moderating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and
cyberbullying victimization. Childhood maltreatment significantly predicted cyberbullying
victimization among adolescents high in FoMO, regardless of self-compassion levels. In contrast,
childhood maltreatment non-significantly predicted cyberbullying victimization when adoles­
cents were high in self-compassion and low in FoMO.
Conclusions: Childhood maltreatment is positively associated with cyberbullying victimization.
Moreover, increasing self-compassion and decreasing FoMO can mitigate the effect of childhood
maltreatment on cyberbullying victimization.

1. Introduction

Cyberbullying perpetration and victimization have become common public health issues internationally, and cyberbullying

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: dr.leili@qq.com (L. Lei).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105888
Received 12 October 2021; Received in revised form 10 September 2022; Accepted 14 September 2022
Available online 21 September 2022
0145-2134/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Geng et al. Child Abuse & Neglect 134 (2022) 105888

victimization has been shown to affect all aspects of adolescents' lives (Feinberg & Robey, 2008). Regarding definition, cyberbullying
refers to repeated and intentional harm using information and communication technologies (Patchin & Hinduja, 2006). An Australian
study showed that 8.9 % of students reported cyberbullying others (Campbell et al., 2013), and 15.8 % of adolescents reported
cyberbullying victimization in the United States of America (Schneider et al., 2012). In another study, over 50 % of adolescents
identified as being involved in cyberbullying as victims, bullies, or bully-victims for the past three months (Mishna et al., 2012).
Similarly, a systematic review indicated that overall victimization varied from 1.6 % to 56.9 % and perpetration from 1.9 % to 79.3 %
in studies that analyzed these variables for the last six months, and that the phenomenon was more frequent in China than in other
countries (Brochado et al., 2017).
Cyberbullying perpetration and victimization are not only prevalent but also detrimental (Campbell et al., 2013). Especially,
numerous researchers have reported on the association between cyberbullying victimization and various severe and long-lasting
mental health-related consequences: these include interpersonal sensitivity (Zsila et al., 2018), psychological distress (Céna et al.,
2018), hopelessness, depression and anxiety symptoms (Chu et al., 2018; Zsila et al., 2018), posttraumatic stress symptoms (Liu, Liu, &
Yuan, 2020), and even suicide ideation (Bai et al., 2021). Cyberbullying victims are also more likely to engage in behavioral and school
problems (e.g., suspension, truancy, and cheating; Tsitsika et al., 2015), substance abuse (Céna et al., 2018), and other delinquent or
problematic behaviors, including alcohol usage, marijuana usage, and high sexual frequency (Graham & Wood, 2019). Given this
evidence, it is of vital importance to explore factors that may contribute to an increase in cyberbullying victimization among
adolescents.
From a developmental perspective, childhood experiences greatly affect adolescents' lives (Kowalski et al., 2019). Specifically,
childhood maltreatment has been shown to be a powerful potential predictor of increased involvement in cyberbullying (or cyber­
bullying victimization) and traditional bullying (Hong et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2017). However, the factors that can moderate the
detrimental effects of childhood maltreatment have yet to be more appropriately identified. Thus, the current study explored the
moderating effects of self-compassion and fear of missing out (FoMO) in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and
cyberbullying victimization.

1.1. Childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization

Childhood maltreatment is a global phenomenon that greatly hinders adolescents' physical and psychological health development
(Stoltenborgh et al., 2015). However, the amount of research within the context of Chinese culture lags behind the literature from
Western cultures (Wang et al., 2017). As one of the few studies on this topic in China, Wang et al. (2017) showed that 53.4 % of Chinese
adolescents indicated having experienced at least one form of childhood maltreatment. Further, the prevalence rates of physical
neglect, physical abuse, emotional neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse in China ranged from 11.13 % to 68.66 % (Li et al.,
2014). Benedini et al. (2016) have shown that childhood maltreatment is related to various negative consequences for adolescents,
including increased likelihood of bullying and aggression, negative peer relationships, and revictimization. Therefore, the current
study focuses on the potential for childhood maltreatment to lead to cyberbullying victimization among Chinese adolescents.
One consistently reported finding is that childhood maltreatment victims have an increased likelihood of perpetrating violence,
including traditional bullying and cyberbullying (Chen et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2017; Wang, Yang, et al., 2019; Wang, Zhao, et al.,
2020; Xiao et al., 2021). Widom (1989) described this phenomenon as a “cycle of violence,” and she (2014) also identified a “cycle of
victimization,” whereby victims of neglect and abuse have an increased likelihood of revictimization later in life. Considering these
propositions, it may be that childhood maltreatment victims tend to be revictimized in offline or online settings.
Many researchers have investigated the association of childhood maltreatment with offline victimization. Xiao et al. (2021) showed
that childhood maltreatment significantly predicted an increased risk of school bullying victimization among Chinese adolescents.
Moreover, child physical and emotional abuse, neglect, and domestic violence are strong predictors of future peer victimization (Indias
et al., 2019). Benedini et al. (2016) also demonstrated the cycle of victimization: Childhood maltreatment was associated with
increased peer victimization. Considering the overlap between traditional bullying and cyberbullying (Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015),
previous systematic reviews have described that traditional bullying victimization is the most powerful predictor of cyberbullying
victimization (Chen et al., 2016; Guo, 2016; Kowalski et al., 2014). Accordingly, we expected that childhood maltreatment would be
associated with cyberbullying victimization.

1.2. Self-compassion as a moderator

Self-compassion is a positive trait that may protect people against adverse experiences in hopeless situations (Geng & Lei, 2021;
Peterson & Seligman, 2004), and it encompasses the three concepts of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness (Neff, 2003).
Individuals high in self-compassion tend to treat themselves with self-kindness, see their suffering as a part of human experiences
(common humanity), and regulate painful thoughts and emotions in the face of difficulties such as childhood maltreatment (mind­
fulness; Zeng et al., 2020). Accordingly, self-compassion may reduce the association of childhood maltreatment with adverse
outcomes.
The social ecology theory proposed by Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979) posits that children's behavior and development are influ­
enced by the interaction between children's inherent traits and their multiple environments. Scholars have effectively applied social
ecological theory to explore the conceptualizations and antecedents of cyberbullying perpetration and victimization (Cross et al.,
2015; Geng, Wang, et al., 2021). From an ecological perspective, cyberbullying involvement results from the complex interactions
between adolescents and their living contexts (Cross et al., 2015; Geng, Wang, et al., 2021). It may thus be that self-compassion

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J. Geng et al. Child Abuse & Neglect 134 (2022) 105888

moderates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization. Although we are the first, to the best of
our knowledge, to test this specific moderation, past studies have supported the moderating role of self-compassion in the relationship
between various stressful contexts and negative outcomes (Chu et al., 2018; Geng & Lei, 2021; Lathren et al., 2019).
Aside from the social ecology theory, previous empirical evidence supports this proposed moderation. Hong, Tarullo, et al. (2018)
have shown that individuals with exposure to childhood maltreatment tend to report more perceived stress. Furthermore, self-
compassion involves effective self-regulation, alleviating the association between perceived stress and internalizing symptoms
(Lathren et al., 2019), which is, in turn, an association that contributes to cyberbullying victimization (Chen et al., 2016). Moreover,
self-compassion could weaken the harmful effects of various stressors (e.g., childhood maltreatment) on cyberbullying perpetration
(Geng & Lei, 2021), which can also increase the risk of cyberbullying victimization (Chapin & Coleman, 2017). Previous research
further indicates that a history of victimization increases children's problematic mobile phone use (Liu, Yang, et al., 2020), positively
predicting cyberbullying victimization (Chen et al., 2016). Accordingly, self-compassion was expected to weaken the relationship
between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization.

1.3. FoMO as a moderator

FoMO is defined as “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent”
(Przybylski et al., 2013; p. 1). Numerous recent studies suggest that FoMO is associated with high problematic Internet and mobile
phone use (Beyens et al., 2016; Fox & Moreland, 2015; Geng, Lei, et al., 2021) and various adverse outcomes involving mental well-
being and physical health (Buglass et al., 2017; Stead & Bibby, 2017); these variables with which FoMO was shown to be associated
could predict cyberbullying victimization (Chen et al., 2016). Hence, FoMO may increase the risk of cyberbullying victimization.
However, this specific influence has never been tested.
In addition to its direct adverse effect on individuals, FoMO may also moderate the effects of other risk and protective factors of
subjective well-being through multiple mechanisms (Chai et al., 2019). These authors also emphasized the importance of considering
FoMO as a moderator of individuals' behaviors. Importantly, Liu, Yang, et al. (2020) showed that the moderating effect of self-
compassion on the relationship between stressful events and adverse outcomes is not always effective. Meanwhile, research shows
that emotional factors may influence the effect of cognition (Dolcos & Dolcos, 2021). Together, these citations suggest that the
moderating effect of self-compassion might be moderated by other emotional factors, such as FoMO. However, scholars have only
seldom investigated the contributions of FoMO to the effect of specific variables while considering its interaction with cognition.
In summary, we propose FoMO as a moderator for two reasons. First, from the perspective of metacognition, FoMO might weaken
the moderating effect of self-compassion on adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment. People with high self-compassion
tend to regulate their painful thoughts and emotions and deviant online behaviors in the face of difficulties, including childhood
maltreatment (Zeng et al., 2020). In contrast, individuals high in FoMO are more likely to use the Internet and mobile phones
excessively (Casale et al., 2018), and the latter could directly increase the risk of cyberbullying involvement (Chen et al., 2016). Hence,
the moderating effect of self-compassion might be stronger among adolescents with low FoMO levels.
Second, from a cognitive perspective, some indirect evidence supports a close relationship between FoMO and trait anxiety
(Przybylski et al., 2013). According to cognitive theories on trait anxiety, high trait anxious individuals show more attentional bias
toward and have difficulties disengaging their attention from threats (Koster et al., 2006). Since people with high FoMO tend to pay
more attention to threats (e.g., childhood maltreatment), even when they also have high self-compassion, their high FoMO still makes
them potentially more susceptible to maltreatment because people's mental energy and cognitive resources are both limited (Han et al.,
2017; Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). Then, since adolescents high in FoMO have this attentional bias toward threats, they may tend
toward performing aggressive behaviors online and receiving aggressive responses from others online (Chapin & Coleman, 2017).
Accordingly, FoMO was expected to weaken the moderating effect of self-compassion between childhood maltreatment and cyber­
bullying victimization.

Self-compassion

H3
FoMO
H2

Childhood Cyberbullying
maltreatment victimization
H1

Fig. 1. The proposed conceptual model.

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J. Geng et al. Child Abuse & Neglect 134 (2022) 105888

1.4. The current study

This study aimed to examine whether: (a) a history of childhood maltreatment would increase the risk of cyberbullying victimi­
zation; (b) self-compassion moderates this relationship; (c) there is a three-way interaction between childhood maltreatment, self-
compassion, and FoMO to predict cyberbullying victimization. Fig. 1 shows the proposed co-moderating model used to test the
following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1. Childhood maltreatment positively relates to cyberbullying victimization.
Hypothesis 2. Self-compassion moderates the association between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization.
Hypothesis 3. FoMO weakens the moderating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and
cyberbullying victimization.
Clarifying these moderating mechanisms underlying the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying
victimization has meaningful implications for the prevention of cyberbullying victimization in adolescents and related interventions.

2. Methods

2.1. Participants

The participants included 1025 Chinese adolescents from two junior high schools in Jinan and Zibo, China. There were 521 (50.8
%) and 504 (49.2 %) male and female participants, respectively. The age range was 14–17 years (M = 15.50 years, SD = 0.52 years; 7
participants did not report their age). Before data collection, this study was approved by the local ethics committee of the participating
schools and all adolescents, teachers, and parents involved in this study provided informed consent. The researchers invited students
who were ever connected to the Internet using a mobile phone or a computer for the past six months to take part in this study. All
participants completed self-reported questionnaires on childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, FoMO, and cyberbullying
victimization.

2.2. Measures

2.2.1. Childhood maltreatment

The 25-item, 5-dimension Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form developed by Bernstein et al. (2003) was used to assess
childhood maltreatment. It has been shown to be suitable to evaluate childhood maltreatment among Chinese adolescents (Cronbach's
α = 0.82, Wang, Yang, et al., 2019). The dimensions are physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and
sexual abuse. A sample item is “Someone in my family hates me.” Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5
(always). Total scores are calculated by summing up responses to all items, with higher total scores indicating higher childhood
maltreatment levels. In this study, the Cronbach's α for the total scale was 0.71.

2.2.2. Cyberbullying victimization

Cyberbullying victimization was evaluated using the 14-item cybervictimization subscale of the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory
(Chu & Fan, 2017). With a Cronbach's α of 0.87, it was shown to effectively measure cyberbullying victimization in a sample of Chinese
adolescents (Chu & Fan, 2017). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). A sample item is
“Computer nicknames or screen names have been stolen,” and participants assessed the frequency of exposure to the corresponding
event in the past six months. Total scores are calculated by summing up responses to all items, with higher total scores indicating
higher cyberbullying victimization frequency. In this study, the Cronbach's α for the subscale was 0.83.

2.2.3. Self-compassion
Self-compassion was evaluated by the 12-item Self-Compassion Scale (Raes et al., 2011). A sample item is “I try to be understanding
and patient toward those aspects of my personality I don't like.” Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely
disagree) to 5 (completely agree). Total scores are calculated by summing up responses to all items, with higher scores indicating higher
self-compassion levels. Regarding Cronbach's α, it was 0.73 in Raes et al.'s (2011) study and 0.82 in the current research.

2.2.4. FoMO
FoMO was assessed by the 10-item Fear of Missing Out scale developed by Przybylski et al. (2013). It has been widely used among
Chinese adolescents and has shown good reliability and validity (Wang, Wang, et al., 2019). Items are rated using a 5-point Likert scale
ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). A sample item is “I fear others have more rewarding experiences than me.”
Total scores are calculated by summing up scores to all items, with higher scores indicating higher FoMO levels. In the current study,
the Cronbach's α for this scale was 0.78.

2.3. Statistical analyses

All data were entered and analyzed using SPSS, version 22.0. The outliers were recognized as missing data, and mean imputation

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J. Geng et al. Child Abuse & Neglect 134 (2022) 105888

was used to handle the missing data. Before hypothesis testing and based on prior research (e.g., Geng et al., 2020), we used factor
analysis to test for common method biases. The results indicated that the first factor explained 14.04 % of the variance, namely, there is
no significant common method bias problem in this study (Podsakoff et al., 2003).
Then, we preliminarily analyzed all research variables by descriptive statistics, t-tests, and correlation analysis. Afterwards, we
used hierarchical linear regression analyses to test the association of the control variable and the independent variables with cyber­
bullying victimization. Finally, Model 3 of PROCESS, version 3.5, for SPSS was used to test the moderation effects of self-compassion
and FoMO (Hayes, 2013). Furthermore, the simple slope was used to explain moderation effects.

3. Results

3.1. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis

Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations for age, childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, FoMO, and cyberbullying
victimization, and the Pearson correlations for age and all research variables. t-tests indicated that male participants had higher levels
of self-compassion (t = 3.27, p < .001) and cyberbullying victimization (t = 2.28, p < .05) than their female counterparts. Moreover,
compared with male participants, female participants had higher FoMO levels (t = − 3.24, p < .001).
Results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that childhood maltreatment, FoMO, and cyberbullying victimization were
significantly and positively correlated (p < .01), and were significantly and negatively related to self-compassion (p < .001). Age was
not significantly associated with any of the research variables.

3.2. Moderators: interactions among childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, and FoMO

First, we used hierarchical linear regression analyses to preliminarily test the study hypotheses. Specifically, gender and age were
the control variables, childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, and FoMO were the independent variables, and cyberbullying
victimization the dependent variable.
Cyberbullying victimization was significantly and negatively associated with gender (β = − 0.08, p < .01), but not significantly
associated with age (β = 0.00, p > .05). Childhood maltreatment (β = 0.28, p < .001) and FoMO (β = 0.09, p < .01) significantly and
positively predicted cyberbullying victimization. In other words, adolescents with exposure to childhood maltreatment and those high
in FoMO were more likely to experience cyberbullying victimization. Self-compassion significantly and negatively predicted cyber­
bullying victimization (β = − 0.14, p < .001), indicating that adolescents low in self-compassion were more likely to be cyberbullying
victims. The control variables and the three independent variables accounted for approximately 15.2 % of the variance in cyber­
bullying victimization.
Second, we tested the moderation effects of self-compassion and FoMO (Table 2). Results showed that childhood maltreatment
significantly and negatively interacted with self-compassion to predict cyberbullying victimization (β = − 0.10, p < .001). For
descriptive purposes, simple slope tests were used. The simple slopes at high, middle, and low self-compassion levels are presented in
Fig. 2. For low self-compassion (self-compassion = M-1SD), childhood maltreatment significantly and positively predicted cyber­
bullying victimization (βsimple = 0.35, p < .001); for medium self-compassion (self-compassion = M), this relationship became weaker
(βsimple = 0.17, p < .001); for high self-compassion (self-compassion = M + 1SD), this relationship was non-significant (βsimple = 0.03,
p > .05). Furthermore, childhood maltreatment did not significantly interact with FoMO to influence cyberbullying victimization (β =
− 0.01, p > .05); similarly, the interaction between self-compassion and FoMO was not significant (β = − 0.01, p > .05).
The three-way interaction among childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, and FoMO was significant (β = 0.08, p < .001;
Table 2). For low FoMO (FoMO = M-1SD), the moderation effect of self-compassion on the relationship between childhood
maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization was significant and strong (β = − 0.18, p < .001); for medium FoMO (FoMO = M), the
moderation effect of self-compassion was significant, but weaker (β = − 0.11, p < .001); for high FoMO (FoMO = M + 1SD), the
moderation effect of self-compassion was not significant (β = − 0.02, p > .05). For descriptive purposes, Fig. 3 and Table 3 show the
summarized results of simple slope tests. The results indicate that high childhood maltreatment levels predicted increases in cyber­
bullying victimization when FoMO and self-compassion were both low (βsimple = 0.41, p < .001). The positive relationship between
childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization was weaker when both FoMO and self-compassion were high (βsimple = 0.19,

Table 1
Descriptive statistics and correlation matrix of all variables.
Variables M ± SD 1 2 3 4

1 Age (14–17) 15.50 ± 0.52 1

2 Childhood maltreatment 31.36 ± 5.60 0.03 1
3 Cyberbullying victimization 16.37 ± 4.11 0.01 0.34*** 1
4 Self-compassion 40.67 ± 6.76 0.04 − 0.29*** − 0.25*** 1
5 FoMO 30.38 ± 6.39 − 0.01 0.09** 0.17*** − 0.41***

Note. N = 1025. The range in the possible scores for childhood maltreatment, cyberbullying victimization, self-compassion, and FoMO were 25–125,
14–70, 12–60, and 10–50.
**
p < .01.
***
p < .001.

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J. Geng et al. Child Abuse & Neglect 134 (2022) 105888

Table 2
Testing the moderating effects of self-compassion and FoMO on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization.
Predictors Step 1 (cyberbullying victimization) Step 2 (cyberbullying victimization)

β t 95%CI β t 95%CI

Control variables
Age 0.00 0.03 [− 0.11, 0.11] − 0.00 − 0.17 [− 0.06, 0.05]
Gender − 0.08 − 2.73** [− 0.13, − 0.03] − 0.07 − 2.53* [− 0.12, − 0.02]
Independent variables
Childhood maltreatment 0.28 9.26*** [0.15, 0.44] 0.22 6.86*** [0.16, 0.28]
Self-compassion − 0.14 − 4.32*** [− 0.23, − 0.06] − 0.12 − 3.77*** [− 0.18, − 0.06]
FoMO 0.09 2.94** [0.01, 0.18] 0.16 5.15*** [0.10, 0.22]
Interactions variables
Childhood maltreatment × Self-compassion − 0.10 − 3.95*** [− 0.15, − 0.05]
Childhood maltreatment × FoMO − 0.01 − 0.32 [− 0.08, 0.06]
Self-compassion × FoMO − 0.01 − 0.54 [− 0.06, 0.03]
Childhood maltreatment × Self-compassion × FoMO 0.08 5.08*** [0.05, 0.10]
R2 0.152 0.245
F 36.40*** 36.53***

Note. N = 1025.
*
p < .05.
**
p < .01.
***
p < .001.

0.50 Low Self-compassion

Middle Self-compassion = .35***
0.40
High Self-compassion
Cyberbullying victimization

0.30

0.20

0.10 = .17***

0.00
Low Childhood maltreatment High Childhood maltreatment
-0.10

-0.20 = .02

-0.30 Childhood maltreatment

Fig. 2. Interaction between childhood maltreatment and self-compassion on adolescents’ cyberbullying victimization.

Low FoMO, Low Self-compassion

0.60
Low FoMO, High Self-compassion

High FoMO, Low Self-compassion = .23***

0.40
Cyberbullying victimization

High FoMO, High Self-compassion

0.20 = .41***

= .19***
0.00
Low Childhood maltreatment High Childhood maltreatment

-0.20

= .07
-0.40

-0.60
Childhood maltreatment

Fig. 3. The three-way interaction between childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, and FoMO on adolescents’ cyberbullying victimization.

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J. Geng et al. Child Abuse & Neglect 134 (2022) 105888

Table 3
Conditional effects of childhood maltreatment on cyberbullying victimization at values of self-compassion and FoMO.
Values of FoMO Values of self-compassion β SE p Bootstrap CI

LL UL

M − SD M − SD 0.41 0.04 <0.001 0.32 0.49

M 0.22 0.05 <0.001 0.13 0.31
M + SD 0.07 0.06 >0.05 − 0.04 0.18
M M − SD 0.33 0.03 <0.001 0.27 0.39
M 0.22 0.03 <0.001 0.15 0.28
M + SD 0.12 0.05 <0.05 0.03 0.22
M + SD M − SD 0.23 0.04 <0.001 0.16 0.31
M 0.21 0.05 <0.001 0.10 0.31
M + SD 0.18 0.08 <0.05 0.03 0.34

Note. N = 1025. Bootstrap sample size = 5000. SE = standard error. CI = confidence interval, LL = low limit, UL = upper limit.

p < .001) or low (βsimple = 0.23, p < .001). In contrast, childhood maltreatment did not significantly predict cyberbullying victimi­
zation when FoMO was low and self-compassion was high (βsimple = 0.07, p > .05).

4. Discussion

Some researchers have shown that childhood maltreatment can play a crucial role in increasing the risk of various types of
revictimization (Benedini et al., 2016; Indias et al., 2019; Xiao et al., 2021). Nonetheless, there are few studies on the co-occurrence of
childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization, and the factors that can moderate the impact of the first on the latter have
yet to be clarified.
The current article closes these gaps by examining the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimi­
zation and whether self-compassion and FoMO moderate this relationship. Specifically, childhood maltreatment was positively
associated with an increased likelihood of cyberbullying victimization; self-compassion moderated this relationship; and FoMO
weakened the moderation effect of self-compassion in this relationship.

4.1. Childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization

Consistent with our expectations, childhood maltreatment was positively related to cyberbullying victimization. This result is
consistent with the findings of prior research exploring the association of childhood maltreatment and victimization offline (Benedini
et al., 2016; Indias et al., 2019; Xiao et al., 2021). Meanwhile, this study extends knowledge on the “cycle of victimization” proposed by
Widom (2014) by showing that it is applicable in explaining the increased likelihood of cyberbullying victimization. A possible
explanation for these results are the descriptions that maltreated children might tend to have poor self-esteem (Thoma et al., 2021;
Wang, Xu, et al., 2020), emotional regulation difficulties, poor peer relationships (Trickett et al., 2011), and mental health problems (e.
g., depression, anxiety, and stress/tension; Badr et al., 2018). These problems, in turn, may make them more likely to be targets of
cyberbullying (Chen et al., 2016; Kowalski et al., 2014; Lee et al., 2017).
Another important explanation is that maltreatment victims tend to feel inferior, unlovable, and helpless and have low self-worth
(Cascardi, 2016), potentially weakening their capacity to resist or detect victimization and making them appear weak and easy targets
for perpetrators (Li et al., 2019). At the behavioral level, childhood maltreatment can trigger deviant patterns of social information
processing (Dodge et al., 1990) and increase adolescents' aggressive behaviors online (Chen et al., 2018; Wang, Yang, et al., 2019).
Then, these aggressions can elicit aggressive responses from others online (Chapin & Coleman, 2017).

4.2. The moderating effect of self-compassion

Our evidence regarding the moderating effect of self-compassion shows that adolescents low in self-compassion and victims of
childhood maltreatment might be more likely to be involved in cyberbullying as victims; it also shows that being a victim of childhood
maltreatment does not predict a greater likelihood of cyberbullying victimization among adolescents with high self-compassion. These
results are consistent with those of previous studies exploring the buffering effect of self-compassion on the associations of various
stressful contexts with other internalizing and externalizing problems (Chu et al., 2018;Geng & Lei, 2021; Lathren et al., 2019). They
also support the application of social ecological theory in explaining cyberbullying involvement (Cross et al., 2015; Geng, Wang, et al.,
2021). This theory explains our results by highlighting that the interactions between childhood maltreatment and positive cognitive
strategies lead to individual differences in cyberbullying victimization.
Furthermore, self-compassion involves being concerned about oneself and engaging in adaptive thoughts and emotional regulation
(Geng & Lei, 2021; Zeng et al., 2020); accordingly, self-compassionate adolescents tend to effectively cope with adversity, including
childhood maltreatment (Geng & Lei, 2021; Lathren et al., 2019). Previous empirical findings also explain our results. Particularly,
self-compassion might alleviate negative emotions—such as depression and anxiety—and decrease deviant online behaviors (e.g.,
cyberbullying perpetration and problematic mobile phone use; Geng & Lei, 2021; Lathren et al., 2019; Liu, Yang, et al., 2020), further
reducing the risk of cyberbullying victimization (Chapin & Coleman, 2017; Chen et al., 2016).

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4.3. The moderating effect of FoMO

Our findings also show the following: High FoMO weakens the moderating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between
childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization; high self-compassion coupled with low FoMO leads this relationship to
become non-significant; low self-compassion and high FoMO lead adolescents who are victims of childhood maltreatment to be highly
likely to be cyberbullying victims. Hence, for adolescents high in FoMO, childhood maltreatment is significantly associated with
cyberbullying victimization regardless of self-compassion levels; for those low in FoMO, this relationship varies by self-compassion
levels. This result supports the propositions of Dolcos and Dolcos (2021), in that emotional factors can moderate the effect of
cognitive factors.
Our evidence may be explained by two additional perspectives. First, although self-compassion contributes to the regulation of
painful experiences (Zeng et al., 2020), individuals high in FoMO tend to overuse the Internet (Casale et al., 2018), which might
increase cyberbullying victimization (Chen et al., 2016). Second, from a cognitive perspective, adolescents high in FoMO show more
attentional bias toward threats (Chai et al., 2019), so they may tend to focus obsessively on their childhood maltreatment experiences,
triggering more adverse outcomes despite different self-compassion levels. Moreover, this attentional bias increases the possibility of
recognition and exposure to threatening information online (Chai et al., 2019), increasing the likelihood of engagement in online
aggressive behaviors and eliciting aggressive responses from others online (Chapin & Coleman, 2017).
Other studies show that adolescents low in FoMO and high in self-compassion might be capable of regulating their own painful
thoughts and emotions in the face of childhood maltreatment effectively (Zeng et al., 2020), as well as adopting adaptive strategies for
fulfilling their psychological needs (Chai et al., 2019). Together, these behaviors may reduce the risk of cyberbullying victimization.
Hence, the evidence in the literature thus far indicates that the moderating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between
childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization is, to some extent, based on FoMO levels.

4.4. Limitations

It is important to note several limitations. First, our results were based on a cross-sectional design. Despite the value of cross-
sectional studies, this design limits the possibility of examining causal inferences. Thus, future experimental or longitudinal studies
should further test the influence of childhood maltreatment on cyberbullying victimization and the moderating effects of self-
compassion and FoMO. For example, according to previous research methods (Krahé, 2020; Krahé & Busching, 2015), future
studies may randomly assign adolescents to an intervention group (e.g., with an intervention to reduce childhood maltreatment) and a
control group; then, they can track the effects of interventions on cyberbullying victimization.
Second, our study did not examine to what extent children with low self-compassion and high FoMO are likely be victims of
cyberbullying. Future research is warranted to further explore and validate whether children with low self-compassion and high FoMO
will likely be victims of cyberbullying or whether these children are a subgroup of vulnerable teenagers.
Third, our results suggested that reducing FoMO levels may be related to reducing the risk of cyberbullying victimization. However,
in the post-COVID-19 era, people are spending more time online than ever, a process through which they communicate with other
people and directly or indirectly get to know what others are experiencing. This reality makes FoMO a hard-to-avoid issue. Thus,
scholars should continue to investigate the protective effect of healthy use of online services/products as well as vulnerable teenagers'
ability to identify cyberbullying and cyberbullying victimization episodes.
Fourth, this study used self-reported measures for all variables, which may trigger some biases. For instance, victims' perception of
cyberbullying behavior may influence their reports of cyberbullying victimization (Peter & Petermann, 2018). Therefore, future
studies should employ multiple measurement methods, such as observational and/or tracking methods.
Fifth, our sample encompassed Chinese junior high school students exclusively, limiting the generalization of our findings. Further,
Chinese adolescents were shown in a prior study to attribute great importance to parental behaviors and parent-child relationships
(Geng et al., 2020). Accordingly, childhood maltreatment may have a greater effect on the health of Chinese adolescents than on that of
other samples. Our conclusions should be tested with samples of different cultural backgrounds in the future.

4.5. Implications and recommendations

This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization
across different levels of self-compassion and FoMO, as well as provides several meaningful implications and contributions to research
and practice. Regarding theoretical implications, this study extends our knowledge on adolescents' cyberbullying victimization by
confirming that those suffering more childhood maltreatment may be more likely to be cyberbullying victims. It also confirms the
three-way interaction between childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, and FoMO in predicting adolescents' cyberbullying
victimization, thus supporting the application of social ecological theory in this context.
Regarding practical implications, first, our results emphasize that stakeholders (e.g., parents, educators, and intervenors) should
encourage victims and witnesses of cyberbullying to report related incidents so that these relevant stakeholders can help reduce the
risk of victimization. Second, the positive relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization shown in our
findings may serve to remind parents and educators to pay especial attention to adolescents who experienced childhood maltreatment.
Accordingly, they could make an effort to decrease the possibility of exposure to maltreatment and develop special interventions for
those reporting more childhood maltreatment.
Third, high self-compassion was related to a decreased risk of cyberbullying victimization among adolescents with a history of

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childhood maltreatment. For children who suffered childhood maltreatment, self-compassion, as a positive trait, might effectively
decrease negative emotions (Chu et al., 2018; Lathren et al., 2019), which may then further decrease the risk of cyberbullying
victimization (Hong, Kim, et al., 2018). Therefore, it may be effective to apply mindfulness-based psychological interventions aimed at
promoting self-compassion to diminish the risk of cyberbullying victimization in adolescents who experienced childhood maltreatment
(Smith et al., 2020).
Fourth, the findings show that the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization becomes non-
significant when adolescents are high in self-compassion and low in FoMO. This contributes with knowledge for educators on the
potential meaningfulness of decreasing FoMO when intervening in cyberbullying victimization. Specifically, educators could train
adolescents' social skills in offline communication and encourage them to develop harmonious interpersonal relationships, as these
processes can help adolescents develop adaptive Internet use behaviors and skills and meet their psychological needs (Geng, Lei, et al.,
2021).

5. Conclusions

This study explores the association of childhood maltreatment with cyberbullying victimization and the moderating mechanisms
underlying this relationship. Our results provide evidence that childhood maltreatment is positively associated with cyberbullying
victimization. Increasing self-compassion can mitigate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cyberbullying victimi­
zation. Moreover, high FoMO weakens the moderating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between childhood maltreatment
and cyberbullying victimization.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

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