Abstract
Cyberbullying perpetration (CBP) and problematic Internet use (PIU) are the most studied risky online activities for adolescents in the current generation. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between CBP and PIU. Still lacking is a clear understanding of common or differentiated risk and protective pathways for adolescents interacting in the cyber world. The aim of this study was to understand the role of individual (emotional symptoms) and environmental variables (parental monitoring) underpinning both CBP and PIU, with time spent online as a mediator of these factors. Furthermore, we investigated gender and school level differences in these dynamics. A questionnaire was filled in by 3,602 students from Italian Lower Secondary Schools and Upper Secondary Schools. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effects of emotional symptoms and parental monitoring on CBP and PIU mediated by time spent online, controlling for school level. In addition, the model was implemented for girls and boys, respectively. Negative emotional symptoms and low levels of parental monitoring were risk factors for both CBP and PIU, and their effect was mediated by the time spent online. In addition, parental monitoring highlighted the strongest total effect on both CBP and PIU. Risk and protective pathways were similar in girls and boys across Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary Schools, although there were some slight differences. CBP and PIU are the outcomes of an interplay between risk factors in the individual and environmental systems. The results highlight the need to design interventions to reduce emotional symptoms among adolescents, to support parental monitoring, and to regulate the time spent online by adolescents in order to prevent risky online activities.
Highlights
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social media are changing the way we socially interact, calling for a redefinition and reassessment of social boundaries and the relationships that operate within and around them
The five-factor confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model, including emotional symptoms, parental monitoring, online time, Cyberbullying perpetration (CBP), and problematic Internet use (PIU), showed a good fit with the data: comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.919, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = 0.909, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.048, SRMR = 0.068
This study presents an important element of innovation, since it considers both CBP and PIU as outcomes of common risk pathways, within an ecological framework by exploring the contribution of individual and contextual factors
Summary
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social media are changing the way we socially interact, calling for a redefinition and reassessment of social boundaries and the relationships that operate within and around them. Beyond the benefits of the Internet and ICT expansion into society, there are many risks that result from their misuse (Livingstone et al, 2011): access to discriminatory and prejudicial content and cyberbullying, pornography, sexting, sextortion, online gambling, and videogame addiction have been reported as emerging and alarming behaviors within the adolescent population (Garaigordobil and Aliri, 2013; Romer and Moreno, 2017; Gainsbury et al, 2018). Cyberbullying perpetration (CBP) and problematic Internet use (PIU)—the latter defined as an entity of dysfunctional behavioral patterns within the spectrum of impulse control disorders (Kormas et al, 2011; Livingstone and Smith, 2014)— are the most studied risky online activities in the current adolescent population
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