Cyber Victimization and Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Emerging Adults

Experiences of cyber aggression victimization in emerging adulthood have been shown to be associated with host of negative psychological health concerns (i.e., depression, anxiety, loneliness, substance use, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts), yet few studies have examined the pathways by which cyber victimization contributes to these outcomes (Kritsotakis, Papanikolaou, Androulakis, & Philalithis, 2017; Schenk & Fremouw, 2012; Varghese & Pistole, 2017). Given this gap in the literature, this study tested a conceptual model of the pathways by which cyber aggression victimization contributes to symptoms of depression and anxiety among emerging adults. Specifically, this study examined the contribution of emotion dysregulation, biological sex, perceived social support, and social media use integration to symptomatology. A total of 310 emerging adults were surveyed. As predicted, emotion dysregulation mediated the relationship between experiencing cyber aggression victimization and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Further, perceived social support moderated the effect of emotion dysregulation on depressive symptoms, but not on anxiety symptoms. Contrary to expectations, biological sex did not moderate the relationship between cyber victimization and emotion dysregulation. Further, social media use integration did not moderate the effect of emotion dysregulation on symptomatology. Implications of these findings for research and intervention are discussed.