The Mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between school bullying and suicidal ideation among high school students of both genders.

The current study aimed to examine the relationship between school bullying (bullying behavior - bullying behavior victims) and suicidal ideation. It also aimed to know the mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between school bullying and suicidal ideation among sample high school students, and to examine gender differences in the study variables. The study sample consisted of (288) high school students (139 males and 149 females) aged between (15-19) years. The total sample had an average age of (16,90±1,09) years, with an average age of (17,07±1,03) years for males and (16,74±1,10) years for females. The study tools included the Perceived Social Support Scale prepared by Al-Sarsi and Abdul-Maqsoud (2001), the School Bullying Scale prepared by (the researcher), and the Suicidal Ideation Scale prepared by (the researcher). The results indicated that there were statistically significant positive correlations between the scores of school bullying (bullying behavior - bullying behavior victims) and the scores of suicidal ideations, and there were statistically significant negative correlations at the level of (0.01) between the scores of perceived social supports (its sub-dimensions and total score) and suicidal ideation. Social support (from family and self-satisfaction with support) played a mediating role in the relationship between school bullying and suicidal ideation. Finally, there are statistically significant differences between the average scores of both genders in the total score and all dimensions of school bullying except for the dimension of social bullying behavior victims, in the direction of males, while there are no statistically significant differences between the average scores of both genders in both perceived social support and suicidal ideation; several suggestions and recommendations were proposed.