Family communication problems, psychosocial adjustment and cyberbullying

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between family communication problems and cyberbullying, through psychosocial adjustment—psychological distress, attitude towards institutional authority, and problematic use of social networking sites—in adolescents. Random sampling by conglomerates was performed. A total of 8115 adolescents participated in the study (51.5% boys, 49.5% girls), and were aged between 11 and 16 years old (M = 13.34, SD = 1.04) and enrolled in the State of Nuevo León (Mexico). A structural equations model was developed using the Structural Equation Modeling Software (EQS). The results showed that problematic family communication is directly associated with cyberbullying, and also indirectly through the relationships of psychological distress and attitude towards transgression of social norms with the problematic use of social networking sites. The multi-group analyses also revealed gender differences in these relationships. Finally, the obtained results were discussed and their practical implications were shown.