Understanding the effects of personal factors and situational factors for adolescent cyberbullying perpetration: The roles of internal states and parental mediation.

Abstract Introduction The risk and protective factors of cyberbullying perpetration have been widely investigated. Less attention is paid to explore the effects of personal and situational factors, internal states, and external states in an integrated framework. This study aims to fill this void by developing an integrated framework to investigate the effects of power imbalance, the online disinhibition effect, internal states, and parental mediation on cyberbullying among Chinese adolescents. Methods Multistage cluster random sampling was employed with 1103 adolescents (Mage = 15.3, 52.5% girls) who responded to the questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted. Results Proficiency in technology use was directly related to cyberbullying. Social status among peers was found to be not only directly related to cyberbullying but also to operate through low self-control to predict cyberbullying. The online disinhibition effect did not directly correlate to cyberbullying but operated through moral disengagement and low self-control to predict cyberbullying. Notably, the results showed that physical power was neither directly correlated to cyberbullying nor aligned with moral disengagement or low self-control to predict cyberbullying. The multiple-group comparison analysis revealed that parental mediation moderated the effects of the online disinhibition effect on cyberbullying. However, this study found that parental mediation had no buffering effects when examining the relationships between physical power, social status, technology use, and cyberbullying. Conclusions Findings suggest that cyberbullying prevention should consider the effects of both internal states and external factors. The study has provided theoretical and practical implications for understanding and tackling the widespread problem of cyberbullying among adolescents.