The Role of Social-Interpersonal and Cognitive-Individual Factors in Cyber Dating Victimization and Perpetration: Comparing the Direct, Control, and Combined Forms of Abuse

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship linking social-interpersonal factors (interpersonal dependency, social support, social skills), cognitive-individual factors (planning behavior and goal efficacy), and different victimization and perpetration forms of cyber dating abuse (direct abuse, control abuse, and the combination of both abuse types). The responses of 1,657 Spanish university students were analyzed (62.1% females, 37.1% males). The multinomial logistic regression model revealed similarities among the three victim groups and revealed that anxious attachment and lack of social support increased the likelihood of direct victimization, control victimization, and direct/control victimization. Differences were found in the three victim groups for social skills and planning behavior. Perpetration was significantly associated with anxious attachment in the three cyber dating perpetration forms. Differences were also found in emotional dependency, social support, and social skills among direct perpetrators, control perpetrators, and direct/control perpetrators. The results revealed that interpersonal and cognitive factors correlated with cyber dating victimization and perpetration.