Mediating role of alexithymia in relationship between cyberbullying and psychotic experiences in adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundToday, addressing issues related to the use of virtual space is of paramount importance due to its significant impact on mental well-being. This is especially crucial when the research community consists of teenagers who are cyber bullies or their victims who have higher vulnerability. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mediating role of alexithymia in the relationship between cyberbullying and psychotic experiences in adolescents.MethodsThe research method employed in this study was correlational, and the study population consisted of all male and female middle school students in Tehran during the 2022–2023 academic years. As for data collection, the Cyber-Bullying/Victimization Experiences questionnaire, Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, and the Toronto Alexithymia scale were applied. A total of 602 samples were gathered by using multi-stage cluster sampling from Tehran in Iran. Four selection of the sample, the regions in Tehran were selected randomly according to the geographical directions of them and then some schools and classes were chosen randomly. Sample was included in the analysis after data entry into SPSS software and subsequent structural equation modeling using AMOS software.ResultsAccording to the findings, cyberbullying (β = 0.11,p < 0.05) and cyber victimization(β = 0.41, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of psychotic experiences. Alexithymia partially mediated the relationship between cyberbullying and psychotic experiences with the mediation effect of 0.28 and cyber victimization and psychotic experiences with the mediation effect of 0.18.ConclusionsThese findings underscore the importance of identifying cyber victims or cyberbullies in order to prevent alexithymia and psychotic experiences in future, in order to prevent more serious problems and becoming psychotic.Trial registrationThe goals and conditions of this research were investigated and approved by the Ethics Committee of Alzahra University in Tehran (code: ALZAHRA.REC.1402.055) on 13th September 2023.