BackgroundVictimization in cyberspace has emerged as a new public health issue among the young. The main purpose of this study was to analyze associations between cyber victimization defined as cyber harassment (CH) (a somewhat broader concept than cyberbullying) and subjective health complaints (SHC), to study whether these associations were modified by parental/friend support (measured as communication), and to explore the influence of traditional bullying victimization (TBV) on the association between CH and SHC.MethodsThe study population consisted of 8544 students in 9th grade (around 15 years old) who participated in the 2012 Scania public health survey of children and adolescents. The survey was a cross-sectional total-population study conducted in school, with a response rate of 83 %.Main and interaction (stress-buffering) effects of social support on the relationship between CH and SCH were investigated by hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses, adjusted for potential confounders, including TBV.ResultsThe past-year prevalence of CH (once or several times) was 14 % among boys and 20 % among girls. Having been cyber harassed once or several times during the past year was associated with higher levels of SHC, controlling for age, parental occupation, parental origin, daily smoking, intense alcohol consumption, and disability. Among both boys and girls, the associations were stronger for CH occurring several times than for CH occurring only once. Main effects of parental/friend support were seen for both boys and girls, while stress-buffering effects were indicated for boys only. Additional analysis further adjusting for TBV did not change the associations substantially, indicating that CH has an effect of its own on SHC.ConclusionIntervention programs aimed at improving the quality of peer and family relationships among children and adolescents might reduce the incidence of both cyber harassment and traditional bullying and lower the prevalence of psychosomatic complaints.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2239-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Lindström, M., Fridh, M., & Rosvall, M. (2014). Economic stress in childhood and adulthood, and poor psychological health: Three life course hypotheses. Psychiatry Research, 215(2), 386-393. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2013 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the associations adjusting for age, country of birth, socioeconomic status, emotional support, instrumental support and trust, and stratifying by sex. The accumulation hypothesis was confirmed because combined childhood and adulthood exposures to economic stress were associated with poor psychological health in a graded manner. The social mobility hypothesis was also confirmed. The critical period hypothesis was not confirmed because both childhood and adulthood economic stress remained significantly associated with poor psychological health in adulthood. Economic stress in childhood is associated with mental health in adulthood.

Disabled adolescents report poorer health and are more exposed to both traditional bullying and cyber harassment. This public health issue needs more attention in schools and in society in general.