Cyberbullying victimization and adolescent emotional and conduct problems: Roles of loneliness, emotion dysregulation, and self-esteem.

Abstract

Cyberbullying victimization (CV) is a significant stressor linked to youth mental health outcomes, including both emotional and conduct problems. While previous studies have identified various mediators including affective, cognitive, and social domains, few studies have simultaneously examined them within an integrated model in a longitudinal design. This study investigates whether loneliness, emotion dysregulation, and self-esteem mediate the association between CV and later emotional and conduct problems. A total of 501 Chinese adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years old (53.3% female; M age = 16.33, SD = 0.47) participated in a two-wave longitudinal study with a 6-month interval. Structural equation modeling was used to test mediation effects, controlling for gender and age. Results revealed that CV at Time 1 (T1) was prospectively associated with higher emotional and conduct problems at Time 2 (T2). Loneliness and emotion dysregulation at T2 were significant mediators of CV and both emotional and conduct problems, whereas self-esteem at T2 was not a significant mediator for both outcomes. Subscale analyses of emotion dysregulation revealed distinct emotion-cognitive patterns across outcomes. Limited access to effective emotion-regulation strategies primarily explained the association between CV and emotional problems, whereas impulse-control difficulties most strongly accounted for the link between CV and conduct problems. Interventions should be multi-component, targeting these shared and distinct psychological factors through strategies addressing social isolation and emotion regulation skills while also incorporating outcome-specific approaches for comprehensive prevention and treatment.