Abstract
Cyberbullying has emerged as a public health problem. Personality may play an important role in substance use and cybervictimization. The aim of this study was to examine whether tobacco and alcohol consumption and personality traits are associated with cybervictimization in Spanish adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 765 secondary students (aged 14–16) from 16 secondary schools in Spain. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics; tobacco and alcohol consumption; cybervictimization (Garaigordobil Scale); and personality traits (Big Five Questionnaire). A logistic regression model controlling for sex, age, parental education and personality traits was used to determine the independent associations and interactions between tobacco and alcohol consumption and cybervictimization. The results indicate that a total of 305 adolescents (39.9%) reported that they were cyberbullied in the past year. Girls were more likely to be cyberbullied than boys. Cybervictims had a significantly greater monthly alcohol consumption (OR = 1.51; 95% CI = 1.05–2.15), higher scores for extraversion (OR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.06–1.63) and emotional instability (OR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.27–1.83); as well as lower scores for conscientiousness (OR = 0.78; 95% CI = 0.63–0.95). These results suggest that personality traits and alcohol consumption are independently associated with cybervictimization. Our study suggests the existence of underlying common personality factors for cybervictimization and alcohol and tobacco use.
Highlights
Cyberbullying and substance use have a powerful negative effect on young people’s health and well-being [1]
These results suggest that personality traits and alcohol consumption are independently associated with cybervictimization
Of the 765 adolescents included in the study, 305 (39.9%) reported that they had been cyberbullied in the past year
Summary
Cyberbullying and substance use have a powerful negative effect on young people’s health and well-being [1]. Cyberbullying is an online (or using electronic forms of contact), intentional aggression by one or more individuals that repeatedly targets people who cannot defend themselves [2]. A significant proportion of children and adolescent (20–40%) are cybervictims [3,4]. Previous studies have found sex differences in cyberbullying and cybervictimization—girls were more likely than boys to experience cyberbullying [5]. The existing evidence showed mixed results and the majority of studies did not find any sex differences [6]
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