Cyber victimization and well-being in adolescents: The sequential mediation role of forgiveness and coping with cyberbullying

Abstract

Cyber victimization is an important problem among adolescents and it can have negative effects on well-being. However, efforts to increase the well-being of cyber victims have been increasing in recent years. It is important to uncover the underlying mechanisms that may affect the well-being of cyber victims. This study used the transactional model of stress and coping theory as a conceptual framework, and proposed that hope and coping strategies are sequential mediators for the effects of cyber-victimization on well-being. A total of 337 students aged between 14 and 19 participated in this research (Mage = 16.56). We used the Cyber Victimization Scale, the Forgiveness Scale for Adolescents, the Scale for Coping with Cyber Bullying, and the Well-Being Scale as data collection tools. Pearson Correlation was used to examine the relationships between cyber victimization, coping with cyberbullying, well-being and forgiveness. Afterward, measurement modeling was done using AMOS 22.0 and the PROCESS macro was used for hypothesis testing. The results show that there is a negative relationship between cyber victimization and forgiveness, coping with cyberbullying, and well-being. In addition, forgiveness and coping with cyberbullying was found to have a sequential mediating effect on the relationship between cyber victimization and well-being. The research results provide information on how to increase the well-being of adolescents experiencing cyber victimization.

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization Prevalence among Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review

“…As shown in Table 1, among the articles included in the present systematic review, ten were conducted in Asia, that is, three in China [52,89,90], two in South Korea [91,92] and the remaining in Indonesia [93], Malaysia [94], Thailand [95], Turkey (eastern Anatolia) [96] and Vietnam [97]; three studies were conducted in European countries, i.e., Croatia [98], Finland [60] and Germany [99]; and the remaining three studies were carried out, respectively, in Australia [100], Canada [101] and Chile [102].…”

“…Regarding the selected studies' research design, four studies were longitudinal investigations [60,91,92,100], one was a randomized retrospective study [101], and the others were cross-sectional [52,89,90,[93][94][95][96][97][98][99]102].…”

“…The time ranges of the data collection varied across the studies reflecting the spread of COVID-19 that followed different rates for each geographic area, based on random and epidemiological factors, as underlined by the Johns Hopkins University research team (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/animated-world-map, accessed on 10 May 2023). Two studies [94,96] reported that data collection took place in 2021, five studies [60,95,97,99,100] were conducted during the early lockdown phase of 2020 and/or shortly after the pandemic outbreak in the spring-summer 2020 (March-August), and six studies were conducted between autumn 2020 and winter 2021 [89,90,92,93,101,102]. Across the two Chinese studies, the data collection period did not overlap, ranging from September-October 2020 [90] to November 2020-January 2021 [89].…”

Forgiveness: A Comprehensive Literature Review

“…Another study conducted by (Eroglu et al, 2022) on 12,500 students studying in 46 high schools in Erzurum showed that forgiveness has a positive effect on the health of cyber victims. So, one of the key methods to improve well-being may be to enhance forgiveness.…”

Importance of Preventive Measures to Reduce the Incidence of Postpartum Depression in Unintended Pregnancies: A Narrative Review

“…Bullying and cyberbullying have a negative consequences for physical and mental health (Méndez, Jorquera, Ruiz-Esteban, Martínez-Ramón, & Fernández-Sogorb, 2019). To handle bullying and cyberbullying, forgiveness techniques can be used (Eroglu, Peker, & Cengiz, 2022). The high negative emotional stress reactions and resentment can also be overcome.…”