The effects of depression and anger on bullying: An extension of general strain theory

The following thesis uses the data from the survey of Health Behavior in School-Aged Children conducted in the United States during 2001-2002. This study intends to extend the general strain theory (GST), which is one of the most popular theoretical frameworks to explain school bullying behaviors. Though the original GST promises a powerful explanation of bullying behaviors, this theory does not, however, explicitly and adequately address possible mediating and multiplicative effects of negative emotion factors on bullying (e.g., depression, anger, fear) despite the fact that mental health issues exert significant influences on school bullying behaviors. In order to establish multifaceted linkages between depression, anger and bullying, this study first tests the direct or main effects of depression and anger on bullying then explores the role of anger as a mediator as well as moderator. Results of this study indicate that while both depression and anger are robust predictors of bullying behaviors, anger also mediates and somewhat moderates the association between depression and bullying.