Cyberspace Risk for Adolescents: An Investigation of Factors Influencing Cybervictimization

• In Event: Friend or Foe? Peer Interactions in Offline and Online Spaces

Abstract

This study aims to examine the factors behind cybervictimization among adolescents. Specifically, this study examines the effects of social networking sites (SNS) usage, perceptions of peers’ kindness on SNS, traditional victimization, and parental mediation on cybervictimization. This study uses secondary data from the 2011 Parents/Teens Digital Citizenship Survey, which includes 799 teenagers and one of their parents in the U.S. Based on OLS hierarchical regression analysis, the results revealed that intensity of SNS usage, traditional victimization and restrictive parental mediation were positively associated with cybervictimization. In contrast, perceptions of peers’ kindness on SNS was negatively associated with cybervictimization. Moreover, the intensity of SNS usage amplified the relationships between perceptions of peers’ kindness on SNS, traditional victimization, and cybervictimization. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Authors

• Liang Chen, Sun Yat-sen University

• Xiaodong Yang, Nanyang Technological U

• Soo Fei Chuah

• Shirley S. Ho