The Longitudinal Relationship Between Cyberbullying Perpetration and Suicidal Ideation Among Vocational School Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Abstract

Background: Although there is extensive evidence linking cyberbullying perpetration to adolescents' suicidal ideation, studies have not yet explored the longitudinal relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and adolescents' suicidal ideation, nor have they elucidated the mechanisms underlying this relationship. To address these gaps, this study employed a three-wave longitudinal design to examine the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and suicidal ideation among Chinese vocational school adolescents, and the mediating effect of depression and the moderating effect of need to belong (NTB) in this relationship.

Methods: Using a cluster sampling method, 802 adolescents (M_age = 17.5, SD=4.3, 51.6% female) from two vocational schools completed the questionnaires measuring cyberbullying perpetration, suicidal ideation, depression, and NTB across three waves at six-month intervals. T1 depression was treated as a control variable in the statistical model. This study used SPSS 27.0 and PROCESS macro to test the research hypotheses.

Results: The results demonstrated that (1) T1 cyberbullying perpetration positively predicted T3 suicidal ideation; (2) T2 depression fully mediated the relationship between T1 cyberbullying perpetration and T3 suicidal ideation; (3) T2 NTB moderated the indirect relationship between T2 depression and T3 suicidal ideation. Specifically, the relationship between T2 depression and T3 suicidal ideation was stronger for vocational school adolescents with high NTB than for those with low NTB.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that cyberbullying perpetration impacts adolescents' suicidal ideation via depression, and that adolescents with high NTB are more vulnerable to suicidal ideation when experiencing depression. This research highlights the importance of adopting a depression-focused intervention, thus preventing cyberbullying perpetration from escalating to suicidal ideation among vocational school adolescents, particularly those with high NTB.