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Longitudinal associations between cybervictimization, anger rumination, and cyberaggression
Author(s) -
Camacho Antonio,
OrtegaRuiz Rosario,
Romera Eva M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.21958
Subject(s) - rumination , anger , psychology , longitudinal study , clinical psychology , poison control , association (psychology) , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , developmental psychology , cognition , psychiatry , medicine , psychotherapist , pathology , environmental health
Adolescents' involvement in cyberbullying has been a growing public health concern for some time. Cybervictimization and cyberaggression are two phenomena that previous research has often shown to be associated. However, longitudinal research into these associations and also into potential risk factors for these phenomena is less common. Anger rumination is a proven risk factor for aggressive behavior, but the relationship between anger rumination and victimization is not clear. The present longitudinal study investigated the associations between cybervictimization, anger rumination and cyberbullying in a sample of 3017 adolescents ( M W1 = 13.15; SD = 1.09; 49% girls) from 7th to 9th grade. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and the Anger Rumination Scale were administered in four waves with 6 months intervals over a total period of 18 months. The associations between the variables were analyzed with a cross‐lagged model. We found that: cybervictimization predicted anger rumination and cyberaggression; anger rumination was associated with later increases in both cybervictimization and cyberaggression: but involvement in cyberaggression predicted neither subsequent involvement in cybervictimization, nor in anger rumination. In addition, cybervictimization was found to mediate the association between anger rumination and cyberaggression. This study expands the understanding of the factors associated with cybervictimization and cyberaggression, and its results indicate that intervention programs should focus on boosting self‐control to decrease impulsive behavior and protocols to prevent and intervene in cyberbullying.