Cyberaggression victimization on anxiety and depression in college students: the role of emotion regulation, social media, social support, and biological sex

Abstract

Objective: To test a conceptual model by which emotion dysregulation mediates the association between cyberaggression victimization (CAV) and symptoms of depression and anxiety among college students. Participants: Undergraduate students (N = 459) aged 18 to 29 years. Methods: Participants responded to an online questionnaire assessing CAV and distress associated with these experiences. Participants reported on emotion dysregulation, social media use integration, social support, and depression and anxiety symptoms. Results: As expected, emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between CAV and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Contrary to expectations, biological sex and social media integration did not moderate the relationship between CAV and emotion dysregulation. Social support reduced the negative effects of emotion dysregulation on depressive and anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: These findings point to the need for colleges to invest in prevention and intervention efforts to reduce exposure to CAV and the impact of those experiences on the health and well-being of students.

Keywords: Anxiety; cyberaggression victimization; cyberbullying; depression; emotion dysregulation.