Cyberbullying among Adolescents in Egypt: A Call for Correlates with Sense of Emotional Security and Psychological Capital Profile.

PURPOSE

Modern technology created a borderless world that generated a new covert psychological form of bullying conveyed through electronic mediums. Cyberbullying phenomenon could infiltrate adolescents' personal life and undermine their psychological health status. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Egyptian adolescents' exposure to cyberbullying and their sense of emotional security and psychological capital profile.

DESIGN AND METHOD

A descriptive correlational study was carried out at eight youth centers in Alexandria, Egypt. A random selection of 400 adolescents completed the Cyberbullying Exposure and Psychological Capital Questionnaires. They also rated their emotions on the Security-Insecurity Inventory.

RESULTS

The total mean score of emotional security among adolescents cybervictims was 68.34 ± 27.83 compared to 109.16 ± 24.63 for those who did not expose to cyberbullying (t = -12.16, P < 0.001). Likewise, the total mean score of the psychological capital profile was low among cybervictims (61.76 ± 2.65) compared to those who had not been cyberbullied (99.94 ± 5.52), p = 0.003.

CONCLUSION

Adolescents' sense of emotional security and psychological capital profile were negatively correlated with their exposure to cyberbullying. National campaigns should be launched to raise adolescents' awareness of cyberbullying threats.

PRACTICE IMPLICATION

Our findings bear important nursing implications regarding the prevention and management of cyberbullying phenomenon. Cyberbullying could be combated by adopting school-based interventions and parents' guidelines. Schools should offer anti-cyberbullying programs, while the nurse should instruct parents to keep an open channel of communication with their children, indirectly supervise their online behaviors, remain vigilant for the indicators of cybervictimization, and intervene when necessary. The nurses also play a crucial role in equipping the adolescents with the proper way to handle such problems.