Longitudinal Associations Between Cyberbullying Involvement and Adolescent Mental Health.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Cyberbullying differs from face-to-face bullying and may negatively influence adolescent mental health, but there is a lack of definitive research on this topic. This study examines longitudinal associations between cyberbullying involvement and adolescent mental health. METHODS: Participants were 2,480 teenagers taking part in the Olympic Regeneration in East London study. We collected information from participants when they were 12-13 years old and again 1 year later to examine links between involvement in cyberbullying and future symptoms of depression and social anxiety, and mental well-being. RESULTS: At baseline, 14% reported being cybervictims, 8% reported being cyberbullies, and 20% reported being cyberbully-victims in the previous year. Compared to uninvolved adolescents, cybervictims and cyberbully-victims were significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression (cybervictims odds ratio [OR] = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.00, 2.06]; cyberbully-victims OR = 1.54, 95% CI [1.13, 2.09]) and social anxiety (cybervictims OR = 1.52, 95% CI [1.11, 2.07]; cyberbully-victims OR = 1.44, 95% CI [1.10, 1.89]) but not below average well-being (cybervictims relative risk ratio = 1.28, 95% CI [.86, 1.91]; cyberbully-victims relative risk ratio = 1.38, 95% CI [.95, 1.99]) at 1 year follow-up, after adjustment for confounding factors including baseline mental health. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes the high prevalence of cyberbullying and the potential of cybervictimization as a risk factor for future depressive symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and below average well-being among adolescents. Future research should identify protective factors and possible interventions to reduce adolescent cyberbullying.