Psychoactive Substance Use and Problematic Internet Use as Predictors of Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization

Research exploring the relationship between addictions and experiences of bullying suggests that problem behaviors may generally be associated with an increased risk of victimization. The aim of the present study was to examine the role of psychoactive substance use, excessive Internet use, and social support in both traditional offline bullying and online Bcyberbullying^ victimization in a nationally representative sample of adolescents (N = 6237; 51% male; Mage = 16.62 years, SD = 0.95). Results demonstrated that traditional bullying victimization was associated with cyberbullying victimization. Furthermore, psychoactive substance use and problematic Internet use predicted both traditional bullying and cyberbullying victimization. Finally, perceived social support was found to be an important protective factor against both traditional and cyberbullying victimization. However, psychoactive substance use and problematic Internet use accounted for only a small proportion of variance in victimization.

4.1% of the respondents reported being victimized by offline and 3.7 by online bullying. No gender differences were found. The victimized group showed higher level of depressive symptoms and lower level of self-esteem. Lack of friend support predicted traditional bullying and low parental support was associated with both types of bullying, so as psychoactive substance use. "Previous research has proposed that problematic maladaptive behavior of adolescents may increase the risk of peer aggression, which in turn may increase the risk of victimization (Gámez-Guadix et al. 2013; Jessor 1991). Using a nationally representative sample of Hungarian middle school students, the present study provided further empirical evidence for this hypothesis by demonstrating that drug use and problematic Internet use are weakly but significantly associated with traditional bullying and cyberbullying victimization. However, these potentially compulsive and/or addictive behaviors had limited explanatory power for predicting bullying victimization in either case. These results suggest that potential offline and online compulsive and/or addictive behaviors are associated with both bullying forms, but psychoactive substance use and excessive Internet use do not appear to be key variables underlying bullying victimization." (Ágnes Zsila - Gábor Orosz - Orsolya Király - Róbert Urbán - Adrienn Ujhelyi - Éva Jármi - Mark D. Griffith - Zsuzsanna Elekes - Zsolt Demetrovics: Psychoactive Substance Use and Problematic Internet Use as Predictors of Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization, Int J Ment Health Addiction (2018) 16:466–479, p: 475.