Accurate assessment of cyberbullying is essential for intervention planning and evaluation. Limitations to many currently available self-report measures of cyberbullying victimization include a lack of psychometric information and a limited scope (i.e., not assessing multiple electronic mediums of cybervictimization). To address these limitations, we developed and investigated the psychometric properties of a broad self-report measure of cyberbullying, the Cyberbullying Scale (CBS). We examined the factor structure and reliability of the CBS across 736 students in Grades 6 to 12 in six Northern Mississippi schools. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) results indicated that the structure of the CBS was best represented by a one-factor model. The finding of a single-factor structure suggests that cyberbullying is a unidimensional construct, which is consistent with previous research. In the current sample, the CBS demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .94) and significant positive correlations with related constructs of anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Results from the present study provide initial support for the CBS as a measure of cybervictimization among adolescents.
Despite the large body of research on the risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), few studies have examined specific personality factors that may be associated with risk for PTSD or the potential mechanisms that may underlie the association between personality and PTSD. Thus, this study sought to examine the relation between the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), a motivational brain-based system associated with the experience of anxiety, and probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status. Further, we examined the mediating role of experiential avoidance in the relation between BIS sensitivity and PTSD. Participants included 291 undergraduates who indicated they had experienced a potentially traumatic event at some point in their life. As expected, significant associations were found between BIS sensitivity, experiential avoidance, and probable PTSD status. Results indicated that BIS scores significantly predicted probable PTSD status above and beyond other relevant covariates, including anxiety symptom severity. Further, this association was found to be fully mediated by experiential avoidance.
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