The relationship between cyberbullying and friendship dynamics on adolescent body dissatisfaction: A cross-sectional study

"The relationship between cyberbullying and friendship dynamics on adolescent body dissatisfaction was examined. Data from the Irish contribution to the international cross-sectional 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study were used. Results showed that girls were three times more likely than boys to report that their body is too fat, and adolescents who were cyberbullied were almost twice as likely as adolescents who were not cyberbullied to consider themselves too fat. Stronger friendship dynamics were associated with decreased levels of body dissatisfaction, and friendship dynamics were found to partially mediate the relationship between cyberbullying and body dissatisfaction"

The study showed that girls are more likely than boys to report that their body is too fat, while boys are more likely to report that their body is too thin and also found that more girls than boys report being cyberbullied. To date, research concerning gender-related cyberbullying experiences is inconsistent. Some studies report no gender differences. "Furthermore, our study found that adolescents who report stronger friendship dynamics were less likely to perceive themselves as too fat, compared to adolescents who reported weak friendship dynamics. As such, our results may indicate that positive peer relationships, characterised by strong friendship dynamics, can decrease the risk of perceiving oneself as too fat among adolescents. This association, however, needs to be studied further, as we cannot determine the direction of this relationship or whether other factors mediate the relationship between friendship dynamics and body image perceptions"