High School Cyberbullying and Adolescents’ Depression in China

Abstract

This paper focused on cyberbullying in a Chinese context and its relationship with Chinese adolescents' depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation based on past literature. Mainly, five articles related to this topic were analyzed respectively to give a comprehensive discussion. The literature suggested that cyberbullying is prevalent among adolescents in diverse Chinese societies and cyberbullying is positively correlated with several negative mental states for Chinese adolescents. However, none of the research can draw a causal conclusion, indicating more longitudinal tracking designs as a future direction. Furthermore, therapy and advice on preventing cyberbullying and depression are suggested based on conclusions drawn. Research in China should further investigate cyberbullying from the social-ecological perspectives and explore more concerning the prevention tactic and potential intervention about cyberbullying.