Does media use lead to cyberbullying or vice versa? Testing longitudinal associations using a latent cross-lagged panel design

Abstract

Cyberbullying research has repeatedly demonstrated that the frequency of media use is a cross-sectional risk factor of cyberbullying and cybervictimization. However, we do not yet know whether the frequency of media use is also a longitudinal risk factor or an outcome of cyberbullying and cybervictimization, or both. Thus, the present study examines the reciprocal associations between the frequency of media use, cyberbullying and cybervictimization over 15 months using a latent cross-lagged panel design. The participants were 1199 German school students aged 9–17 years (M = 12.01 years, SD = 1.68, 55% female). The frequency of media use, cyberbullying and cybervictimization, and the control variables traditional bullying, traditional victimization, sex and age were assessed with a self-report questionnaire. The results show that the frequency of media use does not predict cyberbullying and cybervictimization. However, cyberbullying and cybervictimization predict the frequency of media use from the third to the fourth measurement point. Consequently, the frequency of media use is not a longitudinal risk factor but rather an outcome of cyberbullying and cybervictimization at one point in time. This implies that cyberbullying prevention and intervention programs should not focus on the frequency but on the way media are used.