The relationship between childhood trauma and cyberbullying: a meta-analysis of mainland Chinese adolescents and young adults

Abstract

In recent years, scholars have extensively investigated the correlation between childhood trauma and cyberbullying. However, findings in this area have been inconsistent. The current study employed a meta-analysis method to explore the relationship between childhood trauma and cyberbullying among students in mainland China, aiming to establish a reliable foundation for resolving existing controversies on this matter. This study included 26 articles, encompassing a total of 29,389 subjects. The findings revealed a moderate positive correlation between childhood trauma and cyberbullying (r = 0.418, 95%CI [0.335, 0.495]). Firstly, the correlation was affected by regions. Compared with eastern China, cyberbullying in the central and western regions was more likely to be affected by childhood trauma (rEastern < rCenter < rWestern). Secondly, the childhood trauma scale could moderate this correlation (rCPANS < rCPMSs < rCTQ-SF), showing the highest correlation coefficient when the CTQ-SF was used as a tool to measure childhood trauma. Thirdly, age also significantly influenced the relationship between childhood trauma and cyberbullying. The correlation coefficient among young adults was higher than that of adolescents (rAdolescents < rYoung adults). Lastly, gender differences were found to significantly moderate the relationship between childhood trauma and cyberbullying, indicating a higher correlation coefficient in female than male (P < 0.05).