Impact of Compensatory Online Aggressive Behavior in Sports Event–Related Online Discourse on Psychological Distress: Chain Mechanism of Perceived Emotional Venting and Negative Affect Duration and the Buffering Role of Empathy

This dataset is used to examine the mechanism through which compensatory online aggressive behavior influences psychological distress in the context of online public opinion surrounding competitive sports events, and to construct a structural equation model (SEM) incorporating serial mediation and moderation. The hypotheses are as follows: H1 Compensatory online aggressive behavior is positively associated with psychological distress through a serial mediation pathway via emotional catharsis → negative emotion duration, such that path “abc” is significant; H2 Compensatory online aggressive behavior is positively associated with psychological distress through the single mediating effect of emotional catharsis, such that path “ae” is significant; H3 Compensatory online aggressive behavior is positively associated with psychological distress through the single mediating effect of negative emotion duration, such that path “dc” is significant; H4 Compensatory online aggressive behavior has a positive direct association with psychological distress, such that path “f” is significant; H5 Empathy exerts a negative moderating effect on the association between compensatory online aggressive behavior and psychological distress, such that higher empathy weakens this effect and path “g” is significant. The data were collected via a questionnaire survey of 442 adult social media users recruited using convenience sampling and snowball sampling. All variables were measured on 7-point Likert scales (higher scores indicate higher levels of the construct). Analyses were conducted using SPSS, AMOS, and AmosEstimandVB to test the SEM, and bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples was used to estimate the direct effect, single-mediator effects, serial mediation effect, and the moderation effect. Model fit indices and scale reliability and validity met recommended standards. The results indicate that the serial mediation path (abc) is significant, the single mediations via emotional catharsis (ae) and negative emotion duration (dc) are significant, and the direct effect (f) of compensatory online aggressive behavior on psychological distress is significantly positive. In addition, the moderation effect (g) of empathy is significant and negative, indicating that higher empathy buffers the impact of compensatory online aggressive behavior on psychological distress. Overall, the findings suggest that compensatory online aggressive behavior is not limited to transient emotional release; rather, it may accumulate into psychological distress by prolonging negative emotional experiences. Empathy serves as a boundary condition that attenuates the strength of this adverse pathway. This dataset can be used to replicate SEMs with serial mediation and moderation, conduct robustness checks or model extensions (e.g., multi-group comparisons), and provide empirical evidence for online public opinion governance in sports contexts and for identifying mental health risks.