Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Technol Health Care. 2024;32(2):915-924. doi: 10.3233/THC-230305.
In the wave of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, there is a need to investigate the mental health status of Chinese university students.
To examine the effects of witnessing cyberbullying on psychological distress and the mediating role of coping on these effects in Chinese university students, which is yet to be examined.
306 Chinese university students were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Linear regression was conducted to analyze the relationship between depression, anxiety and being a bystander to cyberbullying, whereas the bootstrapping approach tested the mediation effects of coping strategies.
Results indicated that 27.12% of subjects (95% CI: 22.22%, 32.48%) suffered from anxiety and 44.12% (95% CI: 38.47%, 49.88%) were depressed. Meanwhile, 89.87% of subjects were involved in witnessing cyberbullying. Being a bystander to cyberbullying was weakly but significantly associated with anxiety (β= 0.195, 95% CI: 0.068, 0.292) and depression (β= 0.223, 95% CI: 0.113,0.333). Negative coping partially mediated between witnessing cyberbullying and anxiety, with mediation effect values of 0.04 (P< 0.05). While being a bystander to cyberbullying was only directly associated with depression.
Based on our findings, college students in Hunan, China, are experiencing anxiety, depression and cyberbullying after COVID-19. Being a bystander to cyberbullying is associated with coping strategies, anxiety, and depression. Cyberbullying has a direct impact on anxiety, but it also influences anxiety through mediating effects on coping.
在新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）疫情的浪潮中，有必要调查中国大学生的心理健康状况。
本研究旨在探讨中国大学生目睹网络欺凌对心理困扰的影响，以及应对方式在其中的中介作用，这一点尚未得到检验。
本横断面研究纳入了 306 名中国大学生。采用线性回归分析抑郁、焦虑与作为网络欺凌旁观者之间的关系，采用自举法检验应对策略的中介作用。
结果表明，27.12%（95%CI：22.22%，32.48%）的受试者患有焦虑症，44.12%（95%CI：38.47%，49.88%）的受试者患有抑郁症。同时，89.87%的受试者参与了目睹网络欺凌事件。作为网络欺凌的旁观者，与焦虑（β=0.195，95%CI：0.068，0.292）和抑郁（β=0.223，95%CI：0.113，0.333）呈弱但显著相关。消极应对方式在目睹网络欺凌与焦虑之间部分中介，中介效应值为 0.04（P<0.05）。而作为网络欺凌的旁观者仅与抑郁直接相关。
根据我们的研究结果，中国湖南的大学生在 COVID-19 后经历了焦虑、抑郁和网络欺凌。作为网络欺凌的旁观者与应对策略、焦虑和抑郁有关。网络欺凌对焦虑有直接影响，但也通过对应对方式的中介作用影响焦虑。
