Cyberbullying Victimization as a Predictor of Depressive Symptoms among Selected Adolescents Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Victimization via cyberbullying has become a significant mental health concern particularly among adolescents at risk of depression and other mental health issues. As the COVID-19 outbreak forced everyone to stay at home and participate in their educational, recreational, and entertainment activities online, this study investigated the relation between cyberbullying victimization and depressive symptoms among 612 college students in Tamilnadu, India. We hypothesized that experiences of cyberbullying victimization would predict depressive symptoms among the participants. Adolescents aged 18 to 19 from colleges in Tamilnadu completed an online survey composed of the Cybervictimization Questionnaire for Adolescents (CYVIC) and the Beck’s Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Results showed a significant positive relation between cyberbullying victimization and depression (r = 0.80, p < .001). Regression analysis revealed that cyberbullying victimization is a statistically significant predictor of depressive symptoms (r2 = 0.65). Likewise, impersonation (r = 0.70), written–verbal cyber victimization (r = 0.73), visual teasing/happy slapping (r = 0.69), and online exclusion (r = 0.67) contributed to the significant positive association between the variables. These findings can serve as a foundation for intervention programs to alleviate depressive symptoms by addressing cyberbullying experiences and conducting further research on the negative effects of cyberbullying victimization among adolescents.

Exploring Risk and Protective Factors for Cyberbullying and Their Interplay: Evidence from a Sample of South Korean College Students

This study explored risk and protective factors for cyberbullying perpetration and examined whether they independently and interactively predicted cyberbullying perpetration. Based on key propositions of micro-level theories of crime and delinquency, we adopted two risk factors, cyberbullying victimization and association with cyberbullying peers, and two protective factors, morality and self-control. Using a sample of South Korean college students (N = 244; 112 women (45.9%), 132 men (54.1%); Mean (age) = 22), we found that the two risk factors were positively associated with cyberbullying perpetration, while only one of the two protective factors, which is morality, had a negative relationship with cyberbullying perpetration. In addition, the two protective factors partially buffered the effects of both risk factors on cyberbullying perpetration. The implications and limitations of these findings were also discussed.

Cyberbullying-Victimization Overlap Among Chinese University Students: Does Network Structure Matter?

With widespread internet and social media use among youngsters, cyberbullying has emerged as a novel form of bullying. According to the routine activity and lifestyle theories, cyberbullying and victimization overlap significantly. However, the nature and mechanism of the overlap is not yet adequately understood. This study contributes to extant literature by investigating the role of network structure in cyberbullying-victimization overlap. Participants included 520 residential students from a single department of a Chinese university. This study applied prevalent, bivariate, and social network approach to investigate the overlap. Linear regressions with interactive terms are applied to investigate the moderating effect of network structure. First, the results revealed that the overlap phenomenon is robust against different approaches. Second, the findings demonstrated that indegree significantly moderates the effect of victimization on the perpetration of cyberbullying. Third, for betweenness and closeness, neither direct effect nor moderating effect, is statistically significant. Overall, cyberbullying-victimization overlaps among surveyed Chinese university students and social network may moderate the relationship between cyberbullying and victimization.

Does Religion Buffer Against the Detrimental Effect of Cyberbullying Victimization on Adults’ Health and Well-Being? Evidence from the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey

While prior research has well-documented the detrimental effect of cyberbullying victimization on health and well-being among children and adolescents, less is known about whether the same adverse pattern can be observed among adults. Moreover, it is unclear about what psychosocial resources might moderate this association. The present study uses a nationally representative cross-sectional survey—2014 Canadian General Social Survey ( N = 17,548)—to examine three research questions. First, is cyberbullying victimization associated with adults’ self-rated health, mental health, and life satisfaction? Second, how does religiosity—religious service attendance and religious beliefs—moderate this association? Third, do any observed patterns further differ for men and women? Through a series of logistic and ordinary least squares regression models, the results show that adults who experienced cyberbullying victimization in the past 5 years are more likely to report poor self-rated health and mental health compared to those who did not experience cyberbullying victimization in the past 5 years. Likewise, cyberbullying victimization is also associated with lower levels of life satisfaction. In addition, the adverse associations of cyberbullying victimization in the past 5 years with self-rated health and life satisfaction are weaker among those who attended religious service at least once a week in the past twelve months. A similar pattern is observed for the buffering effect of viewing religious beliefs as very important in the adverse association of cyberbullying victimization in the past 5 years with self-rated life satisfaction. There is also evidence suggesting the gendered buffering effect of the importance of religious beliefs in the association between cyberbullying victimization and self-rated health. This study makes important empirical and theoretical contributions to the growing field of research on the association between cyberbullying victimization and health and well-being and to our understanding of how religion matters to individuals dealing with stressful experiences.

A Social-Ecological Approach to Understanding the Relationship between Cyberbullying Victimization and Suicidal Ideation in South Korean Adolescents: The Moderating Effect of School Connectedness

Background: Cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation are both ongoing deleterious social problems in South Korea. Using the social-ecological approach, this study examined the association between cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation as well as the buffering role of school connectedness in this relationship. Methods: A nationally representative sample of 7,333 adolescents from the 2016 Korean Children and Youth Right Study participated in the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Wald chi-square test, bivariate correlations, and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: Nearly 17.7% of adolescents were cyberbullied, and 28.4% had suicidal ideation in the past 12 months. Cyberbullying victims were at an increased risk of suicidal ideation. The results also found that parental abuse, family dysfunction, and perceived peer relationship stress were positively associated with suicidal ideation, while parental support for autonomy was negatively associated with suicidal ideation. Further, school connectedness moderated on the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and adolescent suicidal ideation. Conclusions: These findings suggest that various stakeholders should consider interventions and preventive programs that address school connectedness when working with adolescents who are victims of cyberbullying and exhibit suicidal behavior.

Cyberbullying Victimization: Hope for Life among Victimized University Graduates

This research study is focused on cyber-bullying victimisation, as well as the hope of the victimized graduates to live their lives fearlessly. For this purpose, university victimised graduates were interviewed using the snowball sampling technique. The results of the study are alarming in terms of their nature and intensity –the victimized graduates were blackmailed and thinking of suicide, they were socially stigmatized, they sacrificed their lives and some surrendered or compromised with what the bully said to do. They isolated themselves and alike. The study suggested that students should avoid sharing their personal information via social networking sites with those people who are not known to them. The study also suggested that parents should keep an eye on social media accounts as well as ICTs’ devices of their children. Also, educational intuitions should organize awareness seminars to make students aware of cyber-bullying and how to escape from being victimized.