Association of High Levels of Bullying and Cyberbullying with Study Time Management and Effort Self-Regulation in Adolescent Boys and Girls

Abstract

This study examined the association between bullying and cyberbullying (both victims and perpetrators) and resource management strategies for learning in students aged 10 to 16. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 1330 Spanish students (48.95% boys; mean age = 13.22 ± 1.75 years). Learning strategies were assessed using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), bullying levels with the European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (EBIP-Q), and cyberbullying with the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIP-Q). ANCOVA and binary logistic regression were used to analyze associations and exposure risk. Girls who were victims of bullying and cyberbullying showed significantly lower scores in study time management (−5.9%, p = 0.001 for bullying; −6.2%, p = 0.025 for cyberbullying) and effort self-regulation (−7.7%, p < 0.001; −8.3%, p = 0.002). Victimized girls were also up to 4.2 times more likely to struggle with effort self-regulation. Female aggressors exhibited up to 10.2% lower effort self-regulation, while male cyberbullies had 9.6% lower study time management compared to their peers and a 4.4 times greater risk of low effort self-regulation (p < 0.001). These findings emphasize the importance of designing targeted school interventions to strengthen self-regulation strategies, particularly for female victims and male cyberbullies, contributing to improved academic outcomes.