Does Problematic Use of Social Network Mediate the Association between Bullying Victimization and Loneliness among Lebanese Adolescents?

Abstract

(1) Background: Bullying victimization has been associated with several behavioral outcomes, particularly loneliness. Similarly, an increase in social network use has been identified in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been shown to be associated with bullying and loneliness. Investigating the mediating factors of loneliness among bullied adolescents is useful for taking preventive measures in the Lebanese population. This study aims to examine the association between bullying victimization and loneliness among Lebanese adolescents while considering the indirect effect of problematic social network use. (2) Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study, between January and April 2022, that enrolled 379 adolescent Lebanese students (64.9% females, mean age 16.07 ± 1.19 years) who were current residents of Lebanon (15 to 18 years), and were from the five governorates of Lebanon (Beirut, Mount Lebanon, North, South and Bekaa). The snowball method was applied to select our sample; an electronic copy of the questionnaire was created using the Google Forms software and an online strategy was designed to collect the data. (3) Results: Negative social comparison and addictive consequences of problematic use of social network mediated the association between bullying victimization and loneliness. Higher bullying victimization was significantly associated with higher negative social comparison and addictive consequences of problematic use of social network, which in turn were significantly associated with more loneliness. Finally, higher bullying victimization was directly significantly associated with more loneliness. (4) Conclusions: Studying the mediating factors of loneliness in bullied adolescents can improve our understanding of this topic, allowing us to propose new interventions to prevent psychological problems in adolescents. Future studies are needed to further clarify the physiological processes that underlie the associations between social triggers and loneliness during adolescence.

The Mediating Effect of Loneliness on the Relationship between Bullying Victimization and Suicidal Behavior among Adolescents in Ghana

“…First, bullying victimization significantly predicted a feeling of loneliness. This finding confirms the results of the previous research [40,41], and supports the study's first hypothesis, which states that bullying victimization significantly predicts loneliness. Second, the study further revealed that the feeling of loneliness significantly predicted suicidal behavior.…”

“…Similarly, researchers have documented a positive association between bullying victimization and loneliness [40,41]. Nevertheless, no researcher has attempted an investigation on the topic in Ghana.…”

“…More recently, Igami et al [39] reported a rate of loneliness of 11.7% among adolescents in a sample drawn from 70 countries. Some researchers have reported that bullying victimization significantly predicts loneliness [40,41]. Other researchers have found that loneliness positively affects suicidal behavior [42][43][44][45].…”

The Effect of Bullying Victimization on Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: The Mediating Roles of Alexithymia and Self-Esteem

“…26 In addition, with the widespread use of mobile phones and the internet, a recent phenomenon known as cyberbullying victimization is also prevalent among adolescents. 18 , 27 It is worth noting that bullying victimization has major detrimental impacts on adolescents’ physical and mental health that are associated with a series of behavioral and emotional problems including depression, 28 anxiety, 29 loneliness, 30 low self-esteem, 31 even suicidal ideation, 32 etc. The affect-regulation model of NSSI states that NSSI is a maladaptive coping style to deal with adverse emotions caused by the experiences of victimization.…”