Abstract
Victimization via cyberbullying has become a significant mental health concern particularly among adolescents at risk of depression and other mental health issues. As the COVID-19 outbreak forced everyone to stay at home and participate in their educational, recreational, and entertainment activities online, this study investigated the relation between cyberbullying victimization and depressive symptoms among 612 college students in Tamilnadu, India. We hypothesized that experiences of cyberbullying victimization would predict depressive symptoms among the participants. Adolescents aged 18 to 19 from colleges in Tamilnadu completed an online survey composed of the Cybervictimization Questionnaire for Adolescents (CYVIC) and the Beck’s Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Results showed a significant positive relation between cyberbullying victimization and depression (r = 0.80, p < .001). Regression analysis revealed that cyberbullying victimization is a statistically significant predictor of depressive symptoms (r2 = 0.65). Likewise, impersonation (r = 0.70), written–verbal cyber victimization (r = 0.73), visual teasing/happy slapping (r = 0.69), and online exclusion (r = 0.67) contributed to the significant positive association between the variables. These findings can serve as a foundation for intervention programs to alleviate depressive symptoms by addressing cyberbullying experiences and conducting further research on the negative effects of cyberbullying victimization among adolescents.
Highlights
The use of digital technology has become integral to adolescents’ life (Allen et al, 2014) through selfexpression, learning new things, demonstrating one’s abilities, learning opportunities, seeking and maintaining friends (Alvarez-Garcia et al, 2019a), connecting with family members, keeping one’s privacy, sharing information, creating social awareness, and participating in group activities (Boyd, 2014; Monica & Jingjing, 2018)
The results revealed that cyberbullying victimization is a statistically significant predictor of depression (r2= 0.65, t = 33.91, p < 0.001)
Impersonation (r =0.70), written–verbal cyber victimization (r =0.73), visual teasing/happy slapping (r =0.69), and online exclusion (r =0.67) significantly contributed to the positive correlation whereas visual–sexual cyber victimization (r =0.39) showed a weak positive correlation. This establishes that a significant positive correlation exists between cyberbullying victimization and depression
Summary
The use of digital technology has become integral to adolescents’ life (Allen et al, 2014) through selfexpression, learning new things, demonstrating one’s abilities, learning opportunities, seeking and maintaining friends (Alvarez-Garcia et al, 2019a), connecting with family members, keeping one’s privacy, sharing information, creating social awareness, and participating in group activities (Boyd, 2014; Monica & Jingjing, 2018). Adolescents stayed socially connected through their widespread use of social media (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). A study conducted in South Africa on cyberbullying and the risk of victimization among children and youth during the COVID-19 lockdown used a qualitative approach, nonparticipant observation. It collected data from three social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) from the beginning of the lockdown. The results showed that as social media usage increased among children and youth during the lockdown, most of the participants became victims of cyberbullying (Mkhize & Gopal, 2021). A study among 14- to 22-year-old social media users in the United States found that one in four young people “often” encounter racist, sexist, homophobic, or body-shaming comments in social media during the pandemic (Rideout et al, 2021)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
