Cross-National Associations Among Cyberbullying Victimization, Self-Esteem, and Internet Addiction: Direct and Indirect Effects of Alexithymia
Open accessAbstract
The relationship among cyberbullying victimization, lower self-esteem, and internet addiction has been well-established. Yet, little research exists that explains the nature of these associations, and no previous work has considered the inability to identify or describe one’s emotions, namely alexithymia, as a potential mediator of these links. The present study sought to investigate the indirect effects of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem and internet addiction, mediated by alexithymia. The sample consisted of 1,442 participants between 12 and 17 years (Mage = 14.17, SD = 1.38, 51.5% male) from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Results showed a direct relationship between cyberbullying victimization and self-esteem and an indirect association mediated by alexithymia in the Dutch sample. However, in the German and U.S. samples, only an indirect relationship via alexithymia, but not a direct effect of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem, was found. Consistent across the three country samples, cyberbullying victimization and internet addiction were directly and also indirectly associated via alexithymia. In sum, findings indicate that alexithymia might help better understand which detrimental effects cyberbullying victimization has on adolescent psychological health. Thus, cyberbullying prevention programs should consider implementing elements that educate adolescents on the ability to identify and describe their own emotions.
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Cyberbullying victimization reduces individuals' self-esteem.
“Cyberbullying victimization has also been found to reduce individuals’ self-esteem [34]”
From How social media usage affects psychological and subjective well-being: testing a moderated mediation model (2023) · cites this paper as [34]
The Conclusion reports that cyberbullying victimization is related to lower self-esteem, and the Discussion reports an indirect association among adolescents. But the Limitations section explicitly says the cross-sectional study cannot establish causality, so it does not show that victimization *reduces* self-esteem; the claim also broadens an adolescent finding to individuals generally. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIndividuals who are bullied typically have lower levels of self-esteem compared to those who are not victimized.
“Research consistently reveals that individuals who are bullied typically have lower levels of self-esteem compared to those who are not victimized [34, 96].”
From How social media usage affects psychological and subjective well-being: testing a moderated mediation model (2023) · cites this paper as [34]
The Introduction links cyberbullying victimization among adolescents to lower self-esteem, supporting the claim in that narrower context. The Discussion reports a direct association only in the Dutch sample, not the American or German samples; the paper therefore does not establish a consistent direct difference for bullied individuals generally. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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- Authors
- Wachs, S., Vazsonyi, A. T., Wright, M. F., & Ksinan Jiskrova, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Potsdam (DE)
- University of Kentucky (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wachs, Sebastian
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2020-06-11
- Volume
- 11
- Pages
- 1368-1368
- ISSN
- 1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7300314
- OpenAlex
- W3035036253
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 7.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- UKnowledge (University of Kentucky) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- publish.UP (University of Potsdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Universität Potsdam
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- cyber victimization, self-esteem, internet addiction, alexithymia, emotional awareness, mediation, adolescents, cross-national comparison, cyberbullying prevention
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