Peer cyber-victimization and addictive phone use: Indirect effects of depression and anxiety among college students
Year: 2023
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: While social media offer opportunities for young adults, including college students, to maintain relationships and seek social support, concerns have been raised about negative social interactions, such as cyber-victimization, and the role that cyber-victimization may play in exacerbating excessive or problematic phone use. The current study examined the association between peer cyber-victimization and addictive phone use, and the ways in which anxiety and depressive symptoms indirectly affect that relationship. To examine these relations, 540 undergraduate students from a Midwestern university in the United States (66% female, 82% White, 79% between 18 to 20-years-old) completed a computer-based survey that measured peer cyber-victimization, addictive phone use, depressive symptoms, and anxiety. The results showed a significant positive association between peer cyber-victimization and addictive phone use. Anxiety, but not depressive symptoms, had a significant indirect effect on the association between peer cyber-victimization and addictive phone use. The findings indicate that experiencing peer cyber-victimization may increase one’s likelihood to experience addictive phone use, potentially through experiencing anxiety. Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand directionality of the relations among these constructs.
DOI: 10.5817/cp2023-3-6
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4382894063