Cyberbullying psychological impact on university students: An exploratory study

• Main Authors: Jesús Redondo, Marianela Luzardo-Briceño, Karol Lizeth García-Lizarazo, Cándido J. Inglés
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad Católica Luis Amigó 2017-07-01
• Series: Revista Colombiana de Ciencias Sociales
• Subjects: Ciberbullying; Estudiante Universitario; Salud Mental
• Online Access: http://www.funlam.edu.co/revistas/index.php/RCCS/article/view/2061

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of cyberbullying among study participants and examine the psychological impact on both cyber victims and cyber attackers, also analyzing gender differences in the impact. The sample consisted of 639 students from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Bucaramanga branch, with an average age of 17.66 years (N = 303 boys, girls N = 334). For developing this analysis, the following instruments were used: (a) Scale cyber aggressions; (B) Scale cyber victimization; and (c) Symptom Assessment Questionnaire-45 (SA-45). The results show that 27.5% of the sample has been attacked on occasion, and that the stalker was 26.7% over the past year. On the other hand, the results showed that there is a psychological impact (SA45 scales) in both cyber victims and cyber aggressors. Gender differences in cyberbullying were evident only at some scales (primarily depression, anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity and somatization), although they were not significant among the psychological symptoms reported in this study (except for scales related to Somatization and Phobic Anxiety). © Revista Colombiana de Ciencias Sociales