The Association between Cyberbullying Victimization and Depression among Children: A Moderated Mediation Model

• Published in: Behavioral sciences Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 414
• Main Authors: Song, Kuai, Zhou, Feng-Juan, Niu, Geng-Feng, Fan, Cui-Ying, Zhou, Zong-Kui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2024
• Subjects: Adaptation; Analysis; Child psychopathology; children; Cognitive style; Coronaviruses; Cyberbullying; cyberbullying victimization; depression; Depression, Mental; Emotions; Internet; Longitudinal studies; Mediation; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Optimism; Perceptions; Personal relationships; Personality; Personality traits; Psychological aspects; Secondary school students; Self esteem; Self image; self-perceived social competence; Stress; Teenagers; Victimization; China; cyberbullying victimization; self-perceived social competence; depression; children; optimism
• ISSN: 2076-328X; 2076-328X
• DOI: 10.3390/bs14050414

Cyberbullying victimization is becoming more prevalent and adversely affects mental health. This research explores the relationship between the two variables and the underlying mechanism, especially for children, as the impact of mental health in childhood might last a lifetime. Primary school students ( = 344; = 9.90; 43.90% girls) completed self-report questionnaires regarding cyberbullying victimization, self-perceived social competence, optimism, and depression at school. Gender and grade were controlled as covariates. Depression was positively predicted by cyberbullying victimization, while self-perceived social competence played a partially mediating role. In addition, optimism directly and indirectly moderated the effects of cyberbullying victimization on depression. Specifically, the effects were stronger for children with low levels of optimism. Therefore, efforts to enhance children's self-perceived social competence and optimism may reduce their depression resulting from cyberbullying victimization.