Cyberbullying involvement in adolescence: Associations with emotion regulation, metacognitive beliefs, loneliness, and perceived social support in a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Cyberbullying is an increasingly prevalent public mental health concern during adolescence and is associated with substantial emotional and interpersonal difficulties. In this cross-sectional, school-based study, we examined the interrelated associations of emotion regulation difficulties, maladaptive metacognitive beliefs, loneliness, perceived social support, and duration of social media use with cybervictimization and cyberbullying perpetration in a school-based sample of 600 adolescents aged 14 to 18 years. Participants completed the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory–II, the Metacognitions Questionnaire for Children, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale–Short Form (DERS-SF), the UCLA Loneliness Scale–Short Form, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Cybervictimization was positively associated with DERS-SF (r = 0.36, P < .001), MCQ-C (r = 0.25, P < .001), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale–Short Form (r = 0.22, P < .001), and negatively associated with MSPSS-total scores (r = −0.19, P < .001). In hierarchical regression analyses, gender (β = −0.190, P < .001), DERS-SF total scores (β = 0.284, P < .001), MCQ-C total scores (β = 0.104, P = .02), and the MSPSS family subscale (β = −0.119, P = .004) significantly predicted cybervictimization (R2 = 0.186). Structural equation modeling showed indirect associations between emotion regulation difficulties, perceived social support, and cybervictimization through loneliness. Cyberbullying perpetration was positively associated with DERS-SF total scores (r = 0.22, P < .001), MCQ-C total scores (r = 0.11, P < .05), and negatively associated with the MSPSS family subscale (r = −0.17, P < .001). In regression analyses, gender (β = −0.212, P < .001), DERS-SF total scores (β = 0.267, P < .001), and the MSPSS family subscale (β = −0.111, P = .01) significantly predicted cyberbullying perpetration (R2 = 0.108). Structural equation modeling analyses further suggested that loneliness may play a role in the association between emotion regulation difficulties, perceived family support, and cyberbullying perpetration. Overall, the findings suggest that adolescents’ involvement in cyberbullying-related behaviors may be associated with a broader psychosocial framework involving emotional dysregulation, maladaptive metacognitive beliefs, loneliness, and perceived social support. These findings may contribute to the development of multidimensional prevention and intervention approaches targeting emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal processes in adolescents.