Neurodevelopmental associations linking subtypes of bullying victimization to internalizing and externalizing problems in childhood and adolescence

Background Bullying victimization is associated with internalizing and externalizing problems, but whether verbal, physical, and relational victimization are associated with shared or differentiated large-scale network patterns remains unclear.Methods In a community sample of 318 children and adolescents aged 8-18 years, sparse canonical correlation analysis identified multivariate associations between three jointly modeled victimization subtypes and resting-state functional connectivity. Generalized additive models examined cross-sectional age-related variation and overall sex differences in connectivity scores. Mode-specific regressions tested whether these scores moderated concurrent associations between victimization and psychological outcomes.Results Three overlapping but differentiated connectivity modes were identified, each dominated by verbal, physical, or relational victimization. All modes involved the visual, dorsal attention, and control networks but differed in the direction of within-network associations and in cross-network organization. The verbal-dominant mode was positively associated with within-visual and within-dorsal-attention connectivity and negatively associated with within-control connectivity. The physical-dominant mode showed positive associations within the visual, dorsal attention, control, and control-default mode systems, together with negative associations involving the ventral attention, default mode, and control-dorsal-attention systems. The relational-dominant mode showed positive associations within the visual, dorsal attention, control, and default mode networks and negative associations involving somatomotor, control-dorsal-attention, and default-control connectivity. All connectivity scores varied nonlinearly with age. The relational-dominant score was higher in females than males, although age-related patterns did not differ by sex. Connectivity scores moderated selected concurrent symptom associations.Conclusions Bullying victimization subtypes were associated with differentiated but overlapping large-scale connectivity patterns and cross-sectional age- and sex-related variation.