America
Cyberbullying puts female students at depression risk
New York, Feb 20
Involvement in cyberbullying
increases risk of depression in female college students - for both
bullies and victims , says a study led by an Indian-origin researcher.
What is worse is that the bullies are also likely to report problem alcohol use, the researchers noted.
"Participants
with any involvement in cyberbullying had increased odds of depression
and those involved in cyberbullying as bullies had increased odds of
both depression and problem alcohol use," said Rajitha Kota from the
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in the US.
Cyberbullying
and its effects have been studied largely in middle and high school
students, but less is known about cyberbullying in college students.
This
cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between involvement
in cyberbullying and depression or problem alcohol use among college
females.
For the study, two hundred and sixty-five female
students from four colleges completed online surveys assessing
involvement in cyberbullying behaviours.
Participants also
completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to assess
depressive symptoms and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test
(AUDIT) to assess problem drinking.
The researchers found that
more than one in four females experienced cyberbullying in college,
increasing their risk for depression.
Among the participants who
had experienced cyberbullying, the most common behaviours reported were
hacking into another person's account, receiving unwanted sexual
advances, being harassed by text message, and posting of degrading
comments.
Those who had experienced unwanted sexual advances
online or via text message had six-fold increase in odds of depression,
the findings showed.
The study appeared in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.