Cyberbullying victimization and its association with health across the life course: A Canadian population study

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:To examine the prevalence of cyberbullying victimization (CV), its associations with self-reported health and substance use and the extent to which age moderates these associations. METHODS:We used the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey on Victimization (N = 31 907, mean age = 45.83, SD = 18.67) and binary logistic regression models to estimate the strength of association between CV and health-related outcomes. RESULTS:The five-year prevalence of CV was 5.1%. Adolescents reported the highest prevalence of CV (12.2%), compared to all other adult age groups (1.7%-10.4%). After controlling for socio-demographic covariates, individuals exposed to CV had increased odds of reporting poor mental health (OR = 4.259, 95% CI = 2.853-6.356), everyday limitations due to mental health problems (OR = 3.263, 95% CI = 2.271-4.688), binge drinking (OR = 2.897, 95% CI = 1.765-4.754), and drug use (OR = 3.348, 95% CI = 2.333-4.804), compared to those not exposed to CV. The associations between CV and self-reported mental health and substance use were strongest for adolescents and attenuated across the adult age groups.CONCLUSION: Adolescence may represent a developmental period of heightened susceptibility to CV. Developing and evaluating targeted preventive interventions for this age group is warranted.KEY WORDS: Bullying; mental health; adolescent La traduction du résumé se trouve à la fin de l'article.

Cyberbullying: A narrative review

“…In this study, 30% of the adolescents spent more than six hours per day on social networking sites, 16 % received insulting messages, 12% reported having seen embarrassing photos of themselves posted online without their permission and 24% of the cyber victims also reported being bullied by peers at school. In a Canadian sample, victims reported more mental health problems, binge drinking and substance use [44]. In this one of the only direct age comparisons studies, adolescents experienced a higher incidence of victimization than adults.…”

Cyber Stalking, Cyber Harassment, and Adult Mental Health: A Systematic Review

“…Periodically, it is essential to reflect on what existing research states about mental health of victims, and examine what research is missing within the cyberpsychology field. Most research focuses on adolescents and school-aged children 8,9 , but there is a lack of understanding on adults' experiences.…”

Factors associated with cyber-victimization among immigrants and non-immigrants in Canada: a cross-sectional nationally-representative study

“…Looking more broadly at the general population, results have shown no association between age and cyber-victimization among youth of different age groups, while pointing to a weak positive association of older youth with cyberbullying perpetration [ 1 ]. On this parameter it is notable that since the vast majority of previous studies on cyberbullying have almost exclusively focused on youth in school settings, there has been far less focus on cyber-victimization among older people [ 29 ]. Several studies of both college students [ 30 , 31 ] and adults in the workplace [ 32 – 34 ], however, suggest a broad reach of this phenomenon, justifying the need for more empirical understanding of the breadth and scope of cyber-victimization across the lifespan, including among older immigrant populations.…”