Longitudinal associations between cybervictimization, anger rumination, and cyberaggression

Abstract

Adolescents' involvement in cyberbullying has been a growing public health concern for some time. Cybervictimization and cyberaggression are two phenomena that previous research has often shown to be associated. However, longitudinal research into these associations and also into potential risk factors for these phenomena is less common. Anger rumination is a proven risk factor for aggressive behavior, but the relationship between anger rumination and victimization is not clear. The present longitudinal study investigated the associations between cybervictimization, anger rumination and cyberbullying in a sample of 3017 adolescents (MW1 = 13.15; SD = 1.09; 49% girls) from 7th to 9th grade. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and the Anger Rumination Scale were administered in four waves with 6 months intervals over a total period of 18 months. The associations between the variables were analyzed with a cross‐lagged model. We found that: cybervictimization predicted anger rumination and cyberaggression; anger rumination was associated with later increases in both cybervictimization and cyberaggression: but involvement in cyberaggression predicted neither subsequent involvement in cybervictimization, nor in anger rumination. In addition, cybervictimization was found to mediate the association between anger rumination and cyberaggression. This study expands the understanding of the factors associated with cybervictimization and cyberaggression, and its results indicate that intervention programs should focus on boosting self‐control to decrease impulsive behavior and protocols to prevent and intervene in cyberbullying.

Exploring the longitudinal relationship between anger rumination and peer victimization when controlling for sadness rumination

“…It was expected that the bidirectional relationship between anger rumination and peer victimization would be reduced, after controlling for sadness rumination. Based on previous findings (Camacho et al, 2021;Li et al, 2021), reciprocal relationships between anger rumination and peer victimization were expected to be similar for boys and girls.…”

“…The interpersonal stress model of rumination states that habitual rumination thinking confers risk for interpersonal stressful life experiences, including peer victimization (McLaughlin & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2012). Although maladaptive anger regulation has been related with later increases in peer difficulties (Riley et al, 2019;Rohlf et al, 2017), anger rumination has only recently been established as a potential precursor of peer victimization in adolescence (Camacho et al, 2021). Dwelling on the causes and consequences of anger eliciting events may drive and reinforce experiences of peer victimization for several reasons (Camacho et al, 2021).…”

“…Although maladaptive anger regulation has been related with later increases in peer difficulties (Riley et al, 2019;Rohlf et al, 2017), anger rumination has only recently been established as a potential precursor of peer victimization in adolescence (Camacho et al, 2021). Dwelling on the causes and consequences of anger eliciting events may drive and reinforce experiences of peer victimization for several reasons (Camacho et al, 2021). For instance, anger rumination was found to be uniquely related with increased proneness to anger, a tendency known as irritability (Leigh et al, 2020).…”

“…Unidirectional links between maladaptive anger regulation and later peer difficulties have been also supported (Rohlf et al, 2017). Surprisingly, the bidirectional relationship between anger rumination and peer victimization is poorly explored (Camacho et al, 2021). Moreover, whether sadness rumination confounds this relation has not, yet, been clarified.…”

Ciber-rumor y síntomas internalizantes en la adolescencia: efecto mediador de la resiliencia

“…Pese a ello, aún quedan importantes preguntas a las que dar respuesta para poder tener una comprensión completa de esta compleja e interactiva dinámica. Aunque existen estudios sobre cuáles son las principales consecuencias y factores protectores para las cibervíctimas (Camacho et al, 2021), aún son escasos los trabajos centrados en explorar los efectos de ciberconductas como el ciber-rumor. El objetivo del presente estudio fue doble: por un lado, describir si los adolescentes que son víctimas de ciber-rumor presentan niveles más altos de síntomas internalizantes; y por otro, analizar el papel protector de la resiliencia en el impacto que sobre el bienestar de las cibervíctimas ejercen los ciber-rumores.…”