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. 2025 Sep;53(9):1339-1351.
doi: 10.1007/s10802-025-01339-5. Epub 2025 Jun 11.

Adolescents Suffering from Long-term Cyberbullying Victimisation: Peer Pressure and Anger Dysregulation as Risk Factors

Esperanza Espino  1 , Ana Margarida Veiga-Simão  2 , Paula Costa Ferreira  2 , Virginia Sánchez-Jiménez  3 , Rosario Del Rey  4   5
Affiliations

Adolescents Suffering from Long-term Cyberbullying Victimisation: Peer Pressure and Anger Dysregulation as Risk Factors

Esperanza Espino et al. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2025 Sep.

Abstract

Episodes of cyberbullying victimisation have serious consequences among adolescents, which worsen when their involvement is perpetuated over time. It is therefore important to understand what factors lead to long-term cybervictimisation to prevent it. This one-year longitudinal study examines significant socioemotional factors in the origin and dynamics of cybervictimisation, not yet jointly explored in its perpetuation. Participants were 427 Spanish 7th -, 8th -, 9th - and 10th -grade students (52.9% boys, 46.8% girls, 0.2% other), aged 12-17 (Mage = 13.08, SD = 1.01). Adolescents completed a series of self-reported questionnaires assessing peer pressure, anger dysregulation, and cybervictimisation. The results revealed that: (a) of the total sample, 5.6% were cybervictims only at T1 and 8.0% only at T2, and 3.6% were long-term cybervictims; (b) all variables were significantly and positively correlated at T1 and T2, except cybervictimisation at T1 and anger dysregulation at T2; (c) scores varied according to gender and age; and (d) peer pressure can increase the risk of long-term cybervictimisation, specifically in cases where anger dysregulation levels are moderate or low. The results highlight the importance of considering moderating mechanisms involved in increasing the risk of long-term cybervictimisation as well as the need to promote positive peer group dynamics and emotion management to avoid perpetuating the problem.

Keywords: Anger; Cyberbullying; Peers; Persistence; Victimisation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Ethics Approval and Consent Statements: The study design was approved by the Andalusian Biomedical Research Coordinating Committee (code: 1223-N-18) before data collection.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Theoretical model with two moderators Note. X = independent variable; Y = dependent variable; W = first moderator; Z = second moderator
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Statistical model with two moderators Note. X = independent variable (T1-CV = cybervictimisation at T1); Y = dependent variable (T2-CV = cybervictimisation at T2); W = first moderator (PP = peer pressure); Z = second moderator (T2-ADR = anger dysregulation); H = hypothesis
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Three-way interaction plot of cybervictimisation at T1, peer pressure, and anger dysregulation on cybervictimisation at T2 Note. The moderating effect of anger dysregulation on the conditional influence of peer pressure on the association between cybervictimisation at T1 and T2
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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