Positive youth development attributes and cyberbullying victimization among Chinese middle school students: A longitudinal moderated mediation model involving internet gaming disorder and depression.

As an extension of traditional bullying, cyberbullying emerges with the increasing popularity of the internet, and seriously affects the health of students. However, fewer studies have explored the potential influencing mechanisms of cyberbullying victimization from a positive psychology perspective. Therefore, based on the positive youth development theory, this study will explore the potential mediator and moderator in the relationship between positive youth development (PYD) attributes and cyberbullying victimization through a longitudinal design. 719 students (Mage = 15.95 years, SD = 0.76, 45.2% boy) participated in the study and completed self-report questionnaires on relevant variables. The result found that students' level of PYD significantly and negatively predicted the level of cyberbullying victimization. Meanwhile, SEM analysis showed that PYD influenced individuals' cyberbullying victimization by affecting their internet gaming disorder (IGD), while depression levels moderated the relationship between PYD and IGD. This study examines cyberbullying victimization from a positive psychology orientation, with potential prevention and intervention value.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2023 Gan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)