Can Expressing Feelings About Violence be a Protective Buffer in the Linkage Between Bullying Victimization and Delinquent Activities?

The current study explores whether expressing feelings about violence through journal or notebook and/or school assignment might be associated with a decrease in delinquent activities, such as substance use, theft of property, and assaultive behaviors. A cross-sectional study with purposive sampling was conducted. The participants were comprised of African American adolescents in four Chicago's Southside neighborhoods. Measures included bullying victimization, substance use, theft of property, assaultive behavior, expressing feelings about violence, and the covariates (age, biological sex, and government assistance). Analyses were univariate analyses and a two-step hierarchical multiple regression. Regarding the study sample, the average age was 15.84 years, 45.6% were males, and 75.7% received government assistance. Bullying victimization was positively associated with substance use, and expressing feelings about violence moderated the association between the two. Bullying victimization was also positively associated with theft of property, and expression feelings about violence moderated the association between the two. Although bullying victimization was positively associated with assaultive behavior, expressing feelings about violence did not moderate the association between the two. Findings suggest a significant role of expressing feelings about violence in buffering the adverse outcomes of bullying victimization among adolescents in low-resourced neighborhoods. Expressing feelings about violence may serve as an effective coping mechanism for adolescents who are consistently exposed to violence.