Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study addressed the adverse effects of cyberbullying on our young people, focusing particularly on immigrant youths. To minimize cyberbullying risks, while maximizing online opportunities, this study explored two types of uses for information and communication technologies (ICT): leisure and information as risk and protective factors. By including two types of ICT use as mediators in adopting a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, this study sought to explore the full mechanism governing the ways cyberbullying affects immigrant youths including its indirect paths via two types of ICT uses as well as its direct path. The results demonstrated the need to combat cyberbullying of immigrant youths, providing empirical evidence of its harmful influences on this vulnerable population. The harmful influences of cyberbullying were more pronounced among youths who frequently used ICT for leisure than among those who used it primarily for information. Interestingly, this study identified significant indirect paths for different ICT uses for immigrant students but no significant effects for nonimmigrant students, showing the importance of targeted approaches for immigrant students.
Authors: Sunha Kim, Myles S. Faith
Institution: University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $1,500
OpenAlex ID: W2991033482