Short-Term Longitudinal Relationships Between Adolescents' (Cyber)bullying Involvement and Social Anxiety

• In Event: Online Harassment and Victimization

Abstract

Previous research suggests that social anxiety is a possible determinant of bullying victimization and perpetration, but also an outcome of (cyber)bullying involvement. However the direction of this association is not yet empirically supported for both traditional and cyberbullying involvement. This study examined short-term longitudinal associations between feelings of social anxiety and involvement in traditional bullying and cyberbullying amongst 2,128 adolescents aged 10 to 17 (56.6 % girls). A cross-lagged panel analysis provided evidence for the contribution of social anxiety to later bullying victimization, both on- and offline. The possibility of a reciprocal relationship was also examined, but not supported. Furthermore, longitudinal bidirectional relationships between social anxiety and bullying perpetration were investigated. Only one significant longitudinal association was found: traditional bullying perpetration predicted later higher levels of social anxiety. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Authors

• Sara Pabian, University of Antwerp

• Heidi Vandebosch, U of Antwerp - Department of Communication Studies