Preventing cyberbullying in victims: What role do cognitive coping strategies play in boys and girls?

The scientific literature shows that without an adaptive management of cyberbullying situations cybervictims may be more likely to become cyberaggressors. Therefore, numerous studies have examined potential factors that contribute to mitigating the strong association between cybervictimisation and cyberaggression, particularly focusing on how adolescents cope with the experience of cybervictimisation. However, clear results regarding gender differences in coping strategy utilisation have not been identified. Consequently, it is necessary to continue delving deeper into this field to further elucidate these prior findings. Thus, this study aimed to examine the possible moderating role of adaptive and maladaptive cognitive coping strategies in the relationship between cybervictimisation and cyberaggression, as well as to analyse gender differences within it. A sample of 2,525 adolescents (12-18 years) participated by completing self-report measures which assess cybervictimisation, cyberaggression and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. After performing several moderation analyses, the results showed that both adaptive and maladaptive strategies independently moderated the link between cybervictimisation and cyberaggression in girls, but not in boys. These findings have contributed to a deeper understanding of the role that coping strategies used by cybervictimised adolescents can play. They also show evidence of the potential benefits of developing various coping strategies that help cybervictims to better manage these adverse situations and reduce cyberaggression.