Bullying, Cyberbullying and Mental Health: The Role of Student Connectedness as a School Protective Factor.

Acoso escolar, ciberbullying y salud mental: el rol de la cohesión entre estudiantes como factor protector escolar. (Spanish)

Traditional bullying and cyberbullying are linked to adverse mental health outcomes. Student connectedness has been recently identified as a potential protective factor in these relationships. Nonetheless, the multilevel nature of these interactions has been frequently overlooked. The present study pretends to fill this gap by exploring the associations between individual levels of bullying and cyberbullying and three adjustment outcomes (i.e., suicidal behavior, symptoms of depression, and self-esteem), as well as the moderating role of the school level of student connectedness on these relationships. The participants in this work were 1,774 students aged 14-18 years (M = 15.70, SD = 1.26), of which 53.7% were female, from 31 secondary schools in Spain. We used previously validated self-reported questionnaires in this study. Traditional victimization and cybervictimization, as well as cyberbullying, were positively related to suicidal behavior and depression, and were negatively related to self-esteem. Conversely, individual levels of student connectedness were associated with lower levels of suicidal behavior and depression, and with higher levels of self-esteem. Moreover, school levels of student connectedness buffered the adjustment problems experienced by victims of cyberbullying. These findings highlight the importance of student connectedness as a possible target for school-based cyberbullying prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El acoso escolar y el ciberbullying están asociados a efectos adversos para la salud mental. La cohesión entre estudiantes se ha identificado recientemente como un potencial factor protector respecto a este tipo de relaciones. No obstante, con frecuencia se ha pasado por alto la naturaleza multinivel de estas interacciones. El presente estudio pretende llenar este vacío explorando la asociación entre el nivel individual de acoso y ciberbullying y tres indicadores de ajuste (i.e., conducta suicida, síntomas de depresión y autoestima), así como el papel moderador del nivel escolar de cohesión estudiantil en estas relaciones. Los participantes fueron 1,744 estudiantes de 14-18 años (M = 15.70, DT = 1.26), de los cuales el 53.7% eran mujeres, de 31 centros de educación secundaria de España. En el estudio se utilizaron autoinformes previamente validados. La victimización tradicional y la cibervictimización, así como el ciberbullying, se relacionaron positivamente con la conducta suicida y la depresión y negativamente con la autoestima. Por el contrario, los niveles individuales de cohesión entre estudiantes se asociaron con niveles más bajos de conducta suicida y depresión y con niveles más elevados de autoestima. Además, los niveles escolares de cohesión entre estudiantes amortiguaron los problemas de adaptación experimentados por las víctimas de ciberbullying. Estos hallazgos destacan la importancia de la cohesión entre estudiantes como un posible objetivo de cara a la prevención del ciberbullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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