How adolescent bullying victims recover self-esteem: is family function or school climate more important?

Objective Bullying has been widely recognised as a critical risk factor for adolescent self-esteem, and highly prevalent in Indonesia. While studies have explored the complexity of self-esteem among bullying victims, predictors and their interrelationships remain unclear. This study examines the influence of family function and school climate on self-esteem among Indonesian adolescents who experienced bullying, with resilience investigated as a mediator.Method A total of 1.274 adolescents reporting experiences of bullying victimisation participated. Standardised instruments were used to measure self-esteem, family function, school climate, and resilience. Path analysis examined direct and indirect effects, focusing on the mediating role of resilience.Results Both family function and school climate predicted self-esteem through resilience. Resilience consistently emerged as a key psychological mechanism that supports positive self-evaluation despite adverse experiences. Among male participants, family function was the primary predictor of resilience and self-esteem, whereas both family function and school climate were significant for females.Conclusions Findings highlight resilience as a central pathway linking ecological factors to self-esteem among bullying victims. The study contributes to theoretical models of resilience by demonstrating gender specific pathways and emphasises resilience focused interventions to support adolescent mental health and reduce bullying’s negative effects.