Cyberbullying Victimization and Adolescent Depression: The Mediating Role of Psychological Security and the Moderating Role o

Course overview

This course is based upon material published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and is available as an open access article. The objective of this study was to examine the mechanisms (the mediating role of psychological security and the moderating role of growth mindset) underlying the association between cyberbullying victimization and depression among adolescents. A sample of 755 adolescents was recruited from two junior high schools, and the participants were asked to voluntarily complete a set of measures, including the cyberbullying victimization subscale in the Chinese version of the Cyberbullying Inventory, the Chinese version of the Security Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Growth Mindset Inventory. The results indicated that: (1) cyberbullying victimization was positively associated with depression through the mediating effect of psychological security and (2) both the direct association between cyberbullying victimization and depression and the indirect association through the mediating effect of psychological security were moderated by growth mindset. Specifically, growth mindset could significantly alleviate the adverse effects of cyberbullying victimization on psychological security and on depression. These findings not only shed light on the mechanisms linking cyberbullying victimization to depression among adolescents, but also provide an empirical basis for formulating prevention and/or intervention programs aimed at reducing depression levels and the negative influences of cyberbullying victimization among adolescents. This course on cyberbullying victimization is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work. This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop or increase their knowledge of adolescent depression related to cyberbullying. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require clinical continuing education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article which includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A major benefit of reading research-based articles for continuing education is they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. Authors: Gengfeng Niu, Jing He, Shanyan Lin, Xiaojun Sun, and Claudio Longobardi Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding cyberbullying victimization and depression. Specifically, a professional will: Distinguish the association between cyberbullying victimization and depression among adolescents Identify the mediating role of psychological security between cyberbullying and depression Describe the role of growth mindset in moderating the relationship between cyberbullying and depression Citation: Niu, Gengfeng, et al. Cyberbullying Victimization and Adolescent Depression: The Mediating Role of Psychological Security and the Moderating Role of Growth Mindset. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18 June 2020.