The relationship between cyberbullying perpetration/victimization and suicidal ideation in healthy young adults: the indirect effects of positive and negative psychotic experiences.

BACKGROUND: Even though not all cyber bullies or victims think of (or consider) suicide, they clearly appear to be at an increased risk. One possible strategy to reduce suicide risk is to decrease cyberbullying occurrence; but this approach has its limitations, as it is certainly an illusion to believe that cyberbullying could be controlled or eliminated in a digitalized world. Another alternative and interesting strategy is to consider mediating factors that may indirectly affect suicidality. To this end, our purpose was to test the hypothesis that positive and negative psychotic experiences (PEs) mediate the relationship from cyberbullying perpetration/victimization to suicidal ideation (SI). METHOD: The study followed a cross-sectional design, and was conducted during the period from June to September 2022. A total of 3103 healthy community participants from Lebanon were included (mean age 21.73 ± 3.80 years, 63.6% females). RESULTS: After adjusting over potential confounders, mediation analysis models showed that both positive and negative PEs partially mediated the associations between cyberbullying victimization/perpetration and SI. Higher cyberbullying perpetration and victimization were significantly associated with greater positive and negative PEs; more severe positive and negative PEs were significantly associated with higher levels of SI. Higher cyberbullying victimization and perpetration were significantly and directly associated with higher levels of SI. CONCLUSION: In light of our preliminary findings, there appears to be an urgent need for a new focus on carefully assessing and addressing attenuated psychotic symptoms in healthy individuals engaged in cyberbullying either as victims or bullies and who present with SI. It is important that school counselors and decision-makers consider a holistic approach taking into account both external/environmental (bullying) and internal/individual (PEs) factors in their suicide prevention programs. Future longitudinal research in larger samples are still required to confirm our findings and further elucidate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between cyberbullying and suicide.

Insomnia and distress as mediators on the relationship from cyber-victimization to self-reported psychotic experiences: a binational study from Tunisia and Lebanon.

BACKGROUND: While expansive research has accumulated concerning the association between traditional, face-to-face peer victimization and psychosis, a paucity of empirical research has been undertaken so far to investigate these associations with experiences of new and evolving ways of victimization through the digital world. Exploring these associations is highly relevant and timely, given that emerging adults are heavy users of digital technologies, highly exposed to online risks, and are at the peak age of onset of psychosis. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that psychological distress and insomnia symptoms have a significant indirect mediating effect on the association between cyber-victimization and self-reported positive psychotic experiences (SRPEs) in a binational sample of Tunisian and Lebanese community adults. METHOD: The total sample was composed of 3766 participants; 3103 were from Lebanon (Mean age: 21.73 ± 3.80 years, 63.6% females) and 663 from Tunisia (Mean age: 26.32 ± 4.86 years, 59.9% females). Online anonymous self-report questionnaires were administered to all participants. RESULTS: Higher SRPEs were found in Lebanese participants compared to Tunisians, in single participants compared to married ones, in those with a university level of education compared to secondary or less, in those who live in rural areas compared to urban, in those who do not smoke, do not drink alcohol and do not use marijuana or any other illegal drug. Furthermore, more cyber-victimization, a higher insomnia severity and psychological distress were significantly associated with higher SRPEs. After adjusting for potential confounders, mediation analysis demonstrated that higher cyber-victimization was significantly associated with more insomnia severity/psychological distress; which were, in turn, significantly associated with greater SRPEs. Finally, more cyber-victimization was significantly and directly associated with more positive dimension. CONCLUSION: Identifying insomnia and distress as mediators could provide novel insight for psychosis prevention efforts and intervention targets for cyber-victimized individuals prone to experience subclinical psychotic symptoms.

Examining correlates of aggression and mediating effect of psychological distress between exposure to media violence and aggression in lebanese adults.

BACKGROUND: Violent media is the most consumed type of media in Lebanon. Many studies have linked exposure to media violence to increased aggression and psychological distress. As Lebanon is going through socio-political turmoil, we aimed to [1] explore the correlates of aggression (i.e., sociodemographic factors, BMI, loneliness, social competence, and psychological distress) in a sample of Lebanese adults from the general population, and [2] to examine the mediating effect of psychological distress in the association between exposure to media violence and aggression in this sample. METHODOLOGY: Adults were recruited through online convenience sampling. We employed scales to assess content-based media exposure (C-ME), aggression (BPAQ-SF), psychological distress (DASS-8), loneliness (JGLS), and perceived social competence (PSCS). RESULTS: Exposure to media violence was associated with all four aggression subtypes (verbal, physical, hostility, and anger). Psychological distress partially mediated all these associations; higher exposure to media violence was significantly associated with more psychological distress, which was significantly associated with higher levels of all types of aggression. Moreover, higher exposure to media violence was significantly associated with higher levels of all types of aggression. CONCLUSION: In the sociopolitical context of Lebanon, violent media could be considered a public hazard. Psychological distress likely potentiates the association between exposure to violent media and aggression. Future research should focus on determining what components of psychological distress underpin this mediation.

Mediation effect of insomnia symptoms between positive psychotic like experiences and suicidal ideation among Lebanese young adults.

BACKGROUND: Psychotic symptoms reported by healthy individuals in the general population are referred to as psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and have been proven to increase the risk of suicidal ideation (SI) in these individuals. As it is well established that PLEs and insomnia share a bidirectional association and also that insomnia is linked to SI, we hypothesized that insomnia may represent a mediator underlying the relationship between PLEs and SI. Our aim was to validate this hypothesis among Lebanese young adults. METHODS: A total of 3103 young adults (mean age 21.73 ± 3.80 years; 63.6% females) recruited from all Lebanese governorates completed a self-administered online questionnaire. PLEs were assessed using the CAPE-42 scale, SI using the Columbia Suicide Rating Scale, and insomnia using the Insomnia Severity Index). We conducted a mediation analysis using SPSS PROCESS v3.4 model 4 with three pathways. Variables that showed a p < 0.25 in the bivariate analysis were entered in the path analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1378 participants (44.4%) had insomnia; 18.8% had SI; 42.5% reported at least one positive PE 'nearly always', and 30.5% reported at least one negative PE with this frequency. The results of the mediation analysis showed that insomnia severity partially mediated the association between positive dimension and SI; higher positive dimension was significantly associated with more insomnia severity, which was, in turn, significantly associated with more SI. Finally, more positive dimension was significantly and directly associated with more SI. CONCLUSION: These preliminary findings might encourage the implementation of new preventive measures to reduce SI among PLEs patients. Treating symptoms of insomnia might help reduce the risk of suicide.

Problematic Smartphone Use Mediates the Pathway from Suicidal Ideation to Positive Psychotic Experiences: a Large Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study.

The present study followed the newly hypothesized "suicidal drive for psychosis" suggesting that psychosis may be consequential to suicidal ideation (SI) and behavior and attempted to explain parts of the pathway between these variables. To this end, we aimed to test whether problematic smartphone use (PSU) has an indirect mediating effect in the cross-sectional relationship between SI and positive psychotic experiences (PEs). Lebanese community young adults (N=4158; 64.4% females; mean age 21.91±3.79) have been invited to participate to a cross-sectional, web-based study in the period from June to September 2022. After adjusting for potential confounders (i.e., the living situation, marital status, household crowding index, economic pressure, cannabis use, other drugs use, and past history of mental illness other than psychosis), we found that higher levels of suicidal ideation was significantly associated with greater PSU, which was also positively and significantly associated with more positive PEs. Finally, greater suicidal ideation was significantly and directly associated with more positive PEs. Our findings suggest that SPU may be regarded as a potential target for prevention and intervention in psychosis. Clinicians, educators, and school administrators ought to give greater attention to PSU among vulnerable young people who present with SI.