The relation between cyberbullying and depressive symptoms in adolescence. The moderating role of emotion regulation strategies

This present study investigated the relations between cyberbullying (i.e. cyberaggression and cybervictimisation) and depressive symptoms in a 6 month longitudinal design. The primary aim of the study was to test the relation between cyberbullying and depressive symptoms. Our second aim was to explore the moderating role of emotion regulation strategies in the relation between cyberbullying and depressive symptoms. A sample of 310 adolescents (53.2% girls, Mage = 15.30, years, SD = 1.67) participated in the study, in the Time 1 session and 6 months later in the Time 2 session. The results of a Cross-Lagged analysis showed that depressive symptoms measured at Time 1 were not related to cyberaggression and cybervictimisation at Time 2, while cyberaggression at Time 1 was significantly related to depressive symptoms later at Time 2. Moreover, the results showed that cognitive reappraisal moderated the relations between the two forms of cyberbullying and depressive symptoms. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.