Predisposing Factors of Cybervictimization among Adolescents: Comparative Analysis of Research Results

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;">The article presents a comparative analysis of data from modern foreign publications on the problem of cyber aggression and the predisposition of adolescents to cyber victimization. The results of large-scale systematic and meta-analytic studies of numerous risk factors for adolescents' involvement in aggressive interactions in cyberspace are discussed, and the protective resources that prevent the young users’ involvement in cyberstalking are analyzed. The negative aspects of the specialists’ increased interest in the problem of cyber aggression — the “dichotomy of multiplicity” — are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the prepositional factors of cyber victimization of adolescents in the online space: systemic, contextual-situational, personal and symptomatic. The results of our own research into key areas of vulnerability of adolescents in the virtual communication space are presented, such as problematic use of the Internet and cognitive-behavioral attitudes of adolescents (emotional intolerance in communication). Scientific and practical prospects for using the model of predisposition (vulnerability) to study the causes and psychological mechanisms of adolescent’ cyber victimization are outlined.</p>