Physical Activity and Bullying Participant Roles Among South Korean Adolescents: Parallel Statistical Indirect Associations Through Psychosocial Resources

This cross-sectional secondary analysis examined concurrent associations between adolescents’ physical activity and five bullying participant roles and whether self-esteem, peer relationships, and cooperativeness statistically accounted for these associations. Data collected in 2023 from 2242 ninth-grade participants in the sixth wave of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018 were analyzed using correlations and five outcome-specific PROCESS Model 4 analyses, controlling for gender. Physical activity was positively associated with self-esteem, peer relationships, and cooperativeness (B = 0.031–0.070, all p < 0.001). Small negative indirect associations with direct bullying, assisting the bully, and reinforcing the bully were observed through peer relationships (indirect estimates = −0.023 to −0.019) and cooperativeness (indirect estimates = −0.003 to −0.002). A small positive indirect association with defending the victim was observed through self-esteem (indirect estimate = 0.007), whereas no indirect association was found for avoidance. Although several associations were statistically detectable, their magnitudes and overall explanatory power were limited. Because all variables were measured concurrently, these findings do not establish temporal or causal mediation. They may inform hypotheses and the design of future longitudinal evaluations of cooperative, relationship-supportive physical-activity contexts, but they do not demonstrate that physical-activity or sport programs reduce bullying.