Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, 1 University Road, Ranana 4353701, Israel.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jun 16;19(12):7395. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19127395.
Most of the research literature on cyberbullying (CB) has focused on adolescents, but due to their intensive, unsupervised use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT), higher education students are at high risk of being involved in CB. The current study examined the nature of CB among 1004 higher education students. In addition, we explored the relationships between cyber-victimization, social support, loneliness, and self-efficacy. For that purpose, we applied a path analysis model (PA) to explain the effect of each variable on the cyber-victimization experience, expecting that high levels of loneliness and low levels of self-efficacy will predict cyber-victimization, but might be moderated and reduced by high levels of social support. Results revealed that social support moderated the relationships between these socio-emotional variables and cyber-victimization, and might serve as a protective factor. These findings on young adults may contribute to the understanding of the nature of cyber-victimization throughout the life cycle. Nowadays, academic institutions are facing an uphill effort in trying to restrain online misbehavior. In view of the findings, higher education policy could help facilitate coping with CB through student support and focused intervention programs.
大多数关于网络欺凌（CB）的研究文献都集中在青少年身上，但由于他们密集、不受监督地使用信息通信技术（ICT），高等教育学生很容易卷入 CB 事件。本研究调查了 1004 名高等教育学生的 CB 性质。此外，我们还探讨了网络受害、社会支持、孤独感和自我效能感之间的关系。为此，我们应用路径分析模型（PA）来解释每个变量对网络受害经历的影响，预计高水平的孤独感和低水平的自我效能感将预测网络受害，但可能会被高水平的社会支持调节和减轻。结果表明，社会支持调节了这些社会情感变量与网络受害之间的关系，并且可以作为一种保护因素。这些关于年轻人的发现可能有助于理解整个生命周期中网络受害的性质。如今，学术机构在试图遏制网络不当行为方面面临着艰巨的任务。鉴于这些发现，高等教育政策可以通过学生支持和有针对性的干预计划来帮助应对 CB。
