CYBERBULLYING: ASSESSING THE OTHER SIDE

Abstract

The current study aimed to explore the relationship between cyberbullying and depressive symptoms among cyberbullies due to their act of cyberbullying others. The study was divided into four phases. Phase 1 reviewed the academic performance of the research documents on cyberbullying from the perpetrators’ perspective and cyberbullying and mental. For this, two independent bibliometric studies were conducted that used science mapping and performance mapping to analyse the literature on the said research domains. Phase 2 reviewed the literature to select and validate a scale that is best suited to the Indian context. The Cyberbullying Attitude Scale by Barlett et al. (2016) was adapted and validated in India. The statistical tools used during this phase were exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability and validity. Softwares used were IBM’s SPSS and AMOS. Phase 3 explored the generational and demographic differences that cause variations in cyberbullying attitudes. These differences were explored using Analysis of Variance and t-test in IBM’s SPSS. In the last phase of the study, we explored the relationship between cyberbullying and depressive symptoms and the mediation effects of guilt and fear on the said relationship. Data was collected from Indian collegiates and working professionals. A longitudinal and multi-study design was adopted. It was found that cyberbullies can develop depressive symptoms out of their act of cyberbullying others. Also, this relationship was explained by guilt and fear, as they significantly mediated the proposed relationship.