Future orientation as a moderator of the association between bullying and cyberbullying victimization and perceived academic performance during adolescence

Abstract

Peer victimization, in its traditional and cyber forms, is increasingly recognized as a relational and contextual process associated with multiple domains of adolescent development, including engagement with learning and academic self-perceptions. This study examined how traditional and cyberbullying victimization relate to perceived academic performance in a sample of Italian upper secondary school students, and tested whether future orientation, understood as a core dimension of adolescent agency, moderated these associations. The final sample included 876 students (51.4% female, age range 14–17 years) who completed self-report measures of traditional and cyberbullying victimization and perpetration, future orientation, and perceived academic performance, assessed through self-reported grade ranges. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted, complemented by bootstrap resampling with bias-corrected and accelerated confidence intervals. Both traditional and cyberbullying victimization were independently and negatively associated with future orientation and with perceived academic performance, even after controlling for perpetration and sociodemographic covariates. Traditional and cyberbullying perpetration also showed independent negative associations with perceived academic performance, though smaller in magnitude. Future orientation moderated the association between victimization and perceived academic performance in both models (both  p  < .001), attenuating the negative association at higher levels of future orientation across both traditional and cyber contexts. These findings situate peer victimization within a broader developmental and relational ecology and point to future orientation as a promising correlate of preserved academic self-perceptions among adolescents facing peer adversity. Because all measures were self-reported and the design was cross-sectional, causal or protective effects cannot be established. Implications for school-based educational and prevention practices are discussed.