Association among Depression, Social Anxiety, and Aggression caused by Cyberbullying on Facebook among Sri Lankan Adults

Abstract

Cyberbullying has become a growing social concern as electronic platforms provide perpetrators an alternative medium through which they can easily target their victims from any place, at any time. The present study aimed to investigate whether depression, social anxiety, and aggression were significantly related to cyberbullying perpetration on Facebook among Sri Lankan adults. A cross-sectional, non experimental study was conducted using 168 Sri Lankan Facebook users between the ages 21 and 60. Data were collected using an online survey. Cyberbullying perpetration on Facebook, depression, social anxiety, and aggression were assessed using the Prevalence of Facebook Bullying Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10), Interaction Anxiousness Scale, and Brief Aggression Questionnaire respectively. Results of the Spearman correlation analysis revealed that depression and aggression were significantly and positively correlated to cyberbullying perpetration, while there was no significant correlation between social anxiety and cyberbullying perpetration. The findings of the present study provide insight into the importance of addressing the psychological and behavioural issues of perpetrators using appropriate interventions in order to reduce the occurrence of cyberbullying. The study also emphasizes the importance of reporting the incidents of cyberbullying and taking necessary legal actions against the perpetrators.