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Understanding general and specific associations between cyberbullying and psychopathological symptoms in adolescents: a latent dimensional approach

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Abstract

Cyberbullying (perpetration and victimization) is a prevalent public health problem associated with a wide variety of psychopathological symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety, delinquent behaviors, and substance use). However, the generality and specificity of relations between cyberbullying involvement and psychopathological symptoms have not been investigated. Thus, the current study used a latent dimensional approach to examine how cyberbullying (perpetration and victimization) is associated with underlying dimensions of psychopathology as well as with specific symptoms. General and specific associations were estimated by a series of structural equation models with data from 654 Chinese adolescents (52.4% girls, Mage = 12.96 years, SD = 0.67) in a three-wave study. Results indicated that cyberbullying (perpetration and victimization) was significantly and positively associated with latent internalizing and externalizing dimensions. Cyberbullying involvement was non-significantly associated with most specific symptom domains after accounting for the impact of the latent internalizing and externalizing factors. In a few cases, cyberbullying involvement was directly and uniquely associated with specific symptoms. Findings of significant general and symptom-specific associations have important implications for efforts to develop more efficient and targeted strategies for preventing and treating mental health problems associated with cyberbullying.

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Data availability

Our study is not able to share data and relevant materials publicly because our data derive from an ongoing scientific research project supporting by National Natural Science Foundation of China. Because the survey data involve users’ privacy and confidentiality issues, we have signed confidentiality agreements with the data providers, that is, relevant middle school boards.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31971005), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2021A1515012515), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2022A1515011233), “14th Five-Year” Plan of Philosophy and Social Science Development in Guangzhou City, 2022 (No. 2022GZGJ175), and Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project in Guangdong Province, 2022 (No. GD22CXL03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510631, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaofeng Xu, Chi Yang & Lili Tian

  2. School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaofeng Xu & Chi Yang

  3. Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    E. Scott Huebner

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  1. Xiaofeng Xu
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Correspondence to Lili Tian.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee (School of Psychology Research Ethics Committee, South China Normal University) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Xu, X., Yang, C., Huebner, E.S. et al. Understanding general and specific associations between cyberbullying and psychopathological symptoms in adolescents: a latent dimensional approach. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 33, 749–759 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02198-5

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