When victimization hurts more: Psychological disability status moderates the relationships between bullying victimization and mental health outcomes among college students

OBJECTIVE: We examined differences in prevalence and severity for three victimization types (traditional and cyberbullying, technology-facilitated sexual exploitation) among college students who reported/did not report a psychological disability. Furthermore, we explored disability status as a moderator of victimization-health outcome relations (depression, anxiety, stress, substance use, and somatic symptoms). PARTICIPANTS & METHODS: We collected two waves of survey data from 138 fourth-year students from two US-based universities. RESULTS: We found that students who reported a psychological disability reported higher prevalence/severity of cyberbullying victimization. Additionally, disability status moderated the prospective relationships between Wave 1 traditional bullying victimization and Wave 2 substance use, such that individuals who reported a psychological disability had a stronger positive relationship. Conversely, the prospective relationships between Wave 1 traditional bullying victimization and Wave 2 depression and stress were weaker among people who reported a psychological disability. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have implications for prevention/intervention among college students with disabilities.