Family Communication Problems, Psychosocial Adjustment and Cyberbullying

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between family communication problems and cyberbullying, through psychosocial adjustment—psychological distress, attitude towards institutional authority, and problematic use of social networking sites—in adolescents. Random sampling by conglomerates was performed. A total of 8115 adolescents participated in the study (51.5% boys, 49.5% girls), and were aged between 11 and 16 years old (M = 13.34, SD = 1.04) and enrolled in the State of Nuevo León (Mexico). A structural equations model was developed using the Structural Equation Modeling Software (EQS). The results showed that problematic family communication is directly associated with cyberbullying, and also indirectly through the relationships of psychological distress and attitude towards transgression of social norms with the problematic use of social networking sites. The multi-group analyses also revealed gender differences in these relationships. Finally, the obtained results were discussed and their practical implications were shown.

Bullying Victimization among Mexican Adolescents: Psychosocial Differences from an Ecological Approach

“…1. In the theoretical field, it suggests that parent–adolescent communication could be central to explaining the link between family variables, school bullying, and other violent behavior in adolescence, such as cyberbullying [ 36 ], dating violence [ 45 ], and child-to-parent violence [ 27 , 77 ]. Through its consequences over the development of trust (PAIA) or distrust (PASNT) toward authority and social norms, over emotion regulation (psychological distress) and social skills (community implication).…”

“…The original scale [ 52 ] was adapted to Spanish [ 53 ] and validated in Mexican adolescents [ 36 ]. It includes ten items with Likert-type answers from 1 (never) to 5 (always) that evaluate anxious and depressive symptoms (i.e., “How often have you felt hopeless?”).…”

“…Confidence in the ability of adult caretakers of notice and sensibly respond to their child’s needs is later generalized to adults and authority figures at other socialization environments, such as the school and community, determining a positive attitude toward authority [ 32 ]. The positive attitude toward institutional authority (PAIA) is a protective factor toward involvement in bullying, either as a perpetrator [ 33 , 34 ] or as a victim [ 35 , 36 ]. On the contrary, a positive attitude toward social norms transgression (PASNT) is associated with involvement in violent behavior at school [ 37 , 38 ] and also with victimization [ 39 ].…”

“…While girls obtain higher means in PAIA, boys report higher means of PASNT [ 38 ]. Girls report higher scores in psychological distress than boys [ 36 , 44 ]. Gender affects the relationship with parents, teachers, and peers through gender stereotypes that define the ideals of masculinity and femininity, assigning the roles of mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, and molding the relationships between them [ 36 , 45 , 46 ].…”

A Study on the Cause Analysis of Cyberbullying in Korean Adolescents

“…Romero-Abrio, Martinez-Ferrer, Musitu-Ferrer, Leon-Moreno, Villarreal-Gonzalez, and Callejas-Jeronimo analyze the relationship between family communication problems and cyberbullying through mental and social adjustments, such as psychological distress, attitude towards institutional authorities, and problematic use of social networking sites for adolescents [ 33 ]. In this study, random sampling by conglomerates was conducted.…”