Investigation of University Students' Cyber Victimization Experience in Relation to Psychological Symptoms and Social Media Use

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine university students' cyber-victimization experience in terms of psychological symptoms and social media use. A cross-sectional and self-reported survey was conducted among a total of 1746 undergraduate students. Data were collected through the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory-II, Brief Symptom Inventory, and the Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale. Chi-square analysis revealed non-significant gender differences for the cyber-victimization experience. Mann-Whitney U test results showed that psychological symptom scores and social media usage scores of cyber victims are significantly higher than non-victims. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that an increase in general social media usage, social media friendship, online friendship, hostility, and paranoid ideation increases the probability of reporting cyber-victimization. The results were discussed, and suggestions were provided in the light of the literature.