TY - JOUR A1 - Wachs, Sebastian A1 - Bilz, Ludwig A1 - Fischer, Saskia M. A1 - Wright, Michelle F. T1 - Do emotional components of alexithymia mediate the interplay between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration? JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health N2 - A substantial amount of research has revealed that cyberbully-victims have more emotional and behavioral problems than either cyberbullying victims or perpetrators. However, until now, little research has been conducted into the factors that contribute to the interplay between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cyberbullying victimization, perpetration, and two emotional components of alexithymia, namely difficulties in identifying and describing one's own feelings. Self-report questions were administered to 1549 adolescents between 12 and 18 years old (M = 14.51; SD = 1.68; 42.1% (n = 652) male) from Germany and Thailand. Results showed that cyberbullying victimization and alexithymia are associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Moreover, alexithymia mediated the associations between cyberbullying victimization and adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration. Consequently, we suggest that the ability to describe and identify one's own feelings might be important for understanding the link between cyberbullying, victimization, and perpetration. The results may help develop prevention and intervention programs focused on reducing cyberbullying. KW - alexithymia KW - cyberbully-victims KW - cyberbullying KW - cybervictimization KW - mediation Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14121530 SN - 1660-4601 VL - 14 IS - 12 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wachs, Sebastian A1 - Vazsonyi, Alexander T. A1 - Wright, Michelle F. A1 - Ksinan Jiskrova, Gabriela T1 - Cross-National Associations Among Cyberbullying Victimization, Self-Esteem, and Internet Addiction BT - Direct and Indirect Effects of Alexithymia T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The relationship among cyberbullying victimization, lower self-esteem, and internet addiction has been well-established. Yet, little research exists that explains the nature of these associations, and no previous work has considered the inability to identify or describe one’s emotions, namely, alexithymia, as a potential mediator of these links. The present study sought to investigate the indirect effects of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem and internet addiction, mediated by alexithymia. The sample consisted of 1,442 participants between 12 and 17 years (Mage = 14.17, SD = 1.38, 51.5% male) from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Results showed a direct relationship between cyberbullying victimization and self-esteem and an indirect association mediated by alexithymia in the Dutch sample. However, in the German and U.S. samples, only an indirect relationship via alexithymia, but not a direct effect of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem, was found. Consistent across the three country samples, cyberbullying victimization and internet addiction were directly and also indirectly associated via alexithymia. In sum, findings indicate that alexithymia might help better understand which detrimental effects cyberbullying victimization has on adolescent psychological health. Thus, cyberbullying prevention programs should consider implementing elements that educate adolescents on the ability to identify and describe their own emotions. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 651 KW - cyberbullying victimization KW - alexithymia KW - self-esteem KW - internet addiction KW - adolescents Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-474382 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 651 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wachs, Sebastian A1 - Vazsonyi, Alexander T. A1 - Wright, Michelle F. A1 - Ksinan Jiskrova, Gabriela T1 - Cross-National Associations Among Cyberbullying Victimization, Self-Esteem, and Internet Addiction BT - Direct and Indirect Effects of Alexithymia JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - The relationship among cyberbullying victimization, lower self-esteem, and internet addiction has been well-established. Yet, little research exists that explains the nature of these associations, and no previous work has considered the inability to identify or describe one’s emotions, namely, alexithymia, as a potential mediator of these links. The present study sought to investigate the indirect effects of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem and internet addiction, mediated by alexithymia. The sample consisted of 1,442 participants between 12 and 17 years (Mage = 14.17, SD = 1.38, 51.5% male) from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Results showed a direct relationship between cyberbullying victimization and self-esteem and an indirect association mediated by alexithymia in the Dutch sample. However, in the German and U.S. samples, only an indirect relationship via alexithymia, but not a direct effect of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem, was found. Consistent across the three country samples, cyberbullying victimization and internet addiction were directly and also indirectly associated via alexithymia. In sum, findings indicate that alexithymia might help better understand which detrimental effects cyberbullying victimization has on adolescent psychological health. Thus, cyberbullying prevention programs should consider implementing elements that educate adolescents on the ability to identify and describe their own emotions. KW - cyberbullying victimization KW - alexithymia KW - self-esteem KW - internet addiction KW - adolescents Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01368 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 11 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER -