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Differences between Preadolescent Victims and Non-Victims of Cyberbullying in Cyber-Relationship Motives and Coping Strategies for Handling Problems with Peers

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Abstract

While preliminary research supports the association of interpersonal difficulties with cyberbullying victimization in adolescence, it remains unclear how cyber-relationship motives and strategies for coping with stressful peer situations in “real settings” differ between victims and non-victims of cyberbullying. The purpose of this study was to verify whether there are differences between groups of cyberbullying victims (severe, occasional and non-victims) in regards to cyber-relationship motives and coping strategies for handling problems with peers among 1058 preadolescents aged 10–12 years. The results show that cyberbullying victims use the Internet to create new relationships, search for anonymity, escape the real world and to compensate for their lack of social skills to a greater extent than non-victims. Severe victims of cyberbullying also use less effective strategies to handle problems with peers than non-victims and occasional victims. The results of this study represent a new stimulus to thoroughly understand the psychological and behavioral factors associated with cyberbullying victimization and to identify key recommendations to develop more effective interventions and prevent cyberbullying episodes.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Humanities, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avda de los Alfares, 42. 16071, Cuenca, Spain

    Raúl Navarro & Santiago Yubero

  2. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Work, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Camino Pozuelo, S/N. 16071, Cuenca, Spain

    Elisa Larrañaga

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  1. Raúl Navarro
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  2. Elisa Larrañaga
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Correspondence to Raúl Navarro.

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All authors contributed equally and significantly in writing this article. All authors take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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This research was financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the National Program of Research and Innovation (I + D + i 2015): PSI2015–70,822-R.

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Navarro, R., Larrañaga, E. & Yubero, S. Differences between Preadolescent Victims and Non-Victims of Cyberbullying in Cyber-Relationship Motives and Coping Strategies for Handling Problems with Peers. Curr Psychol 37, 116–127 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9495-2

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