Relationship between suicidal thinking, anxiety, depression and stress in university students who are victims of cyberbullying
Abstract
The objective of this study is to analyze the predictive capacity of cybervictimization with regards to suicidal thinking and anxiety, depression and stress in university students. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 and the Suicidality Scale were administered to a sample of 1282 university students (594 men and 688 women) aged between 18 and 46 (M = 21.65; SD = 4.25). The results suggest that being a cybervictim increases the probability of suicidal thinking and presenting high levels of anxiety, depression and stress. This study highlights the high prevalence rates of cyberbullying in the university environment and how this issue is associated with emotional problems and suicidal thinking. The identification of these relationships may allow for the development of effective preventive intervention measures to respond to this problem.
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Cyberbullying can lead to anxiety, depression, and, in extreme cases, suicidal thoughts among children.
“Cyberbullying can lead to anxiety, depression, and, in extreme cases, suicidal thoughts among children (Martínez-Monteagudo et al., 2020; Maurya et al., 2022);”
From Virtual Reality Risks for Children in the Metaverse: An Examination through Criminological Perspectives (2026) · cites this paper as Martínez-Monteagudo et al., 2020
Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation are commonly identified as psychological consequences of cyberbullying victimization.
“Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation are commonly identified as psychological consequences of cyberbullying victimization36,81–83.”
From Umbrella review of meta-analyses on the risk factors, protective factors, consequences and interventions of cyberbullying victimization (2024) · cites this paper as [83]
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Associations among bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide in high school students
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- Authors
- Martínez-Monteagudo, M. C., Delgado, B., Díaz-Herrero, Á., & García-Fernández, J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Alicante (ES)
- Universidad de Murcia (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Delgado, Beatriz
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-04
- Volume
- 286
- Pages
- 112856
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3004931201
- Cited by
- 127
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 18.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion)
- Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante (Universidad de Alicante) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- cyberbullying, cyber victimization, suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, stress, university students, mental health, preventive interventions
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