Article Review 2
11/1/2023
The interrelatedness of cyberbullying and depression among adolescents
Principles of Social Science
In this technological age, where internet users are getting younger and younger, we have to ask if and how the use of technology and social media sites are damaging or negatively impacting our youth. The above article examines the connections between reported depression among adolescents to the occurrence of cyberbullying. The social science principle of relativism can be understood that all things are related; relativism is related strongly to this discussion because of the nature of the question being asked: how might cyberbullying and rates of depression be related? Additionally, we can also associate the principle of determinism with this study. Determinism is defined as behavior that is influenced or determined by preceding events. In this article, the authors argue that cyberbullying is a reaction to stress or strain in accordance with the General Strain Theory (GST), “strained social relationships or the presentation of noxious events pressure individuals into coping” (Nicholson et al., 2023, p.47). To expand on their claim, I think it is logical to argue that an individual who is cyberbullying their peers, could absolutely be motivated or influenced by their past experiences and life events that led them to such behavior.
Studies Questions
To put it simply, this study is examining possible correlations between cyberbullying and measures of depression in adolescents. Additionally, they’re analyzing further by incorporating the sex, ethnicity, and grade of the youth included in the study. Their exact questions are as follows: “1. To what extent does depression prevalence differ by being cyberbullied, cyberbullied biological sex, and cyberbullied race/ethnicity?” and “2. Among cyberbullied individuals, to what extent did depression trends vary by biological sex (male/female) and race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, or Hispanic)?” (Nicholson et al., 2023, p.48).
Research Methods/Data and Analysis
This study reviews data put out by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from their National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The authors utilized the survey research method when gathering their data to review. To make it straightforward, their data analysis plan was broken down into 4 steps. In the first step, they presented the sex, ethnicity, and grade (9th-12th) of the adolescents that were included in the survey. The second step consisted of a presentation of the total frequency of depression arranged into groups of non-cyberbullied, cyberbullied, sex, and ethnicity. Next, for the third step they go on to analyze the variations in prevalence of depression among the different groups. Lastly, they performed trend analysis using a logistic regression analysis with depression as the dependent variable.
Topics from Class Relevant to this Study/Relation to Marginalized Groups
In module 4, we discussed psybersecurity and cyberpsychology which both explore the study of psychology as an interdisciplinary study to cybersecurity. The PowerPoint defines cyberpsychology in that it “examines how we interact with others using technology, how our behavior is influenced by technology, how technology can be developed to best suit our needs, and how our psychological states can be affected by technologies.” Considering that even adults are psychologically affected by the use of technology and social media, it is apparent that online usage would also significantly impact the psychology of children. This topic relates to the challenges of all marginalized groups, seeing as internet users consist of all types of people.
Conclusion/Overall Contributions to Society
The results of this study showed that there was an increase in depression among adolescents that have experienced cyberbullying compared to the overall total. Mental health is an extremely prevalent issue amongst adolescents, so understanding and making the connections of what fuels depression and other mental health issues can help us in figuring out how to decrease the commonness of this epidemic. This study can be useful for many groups, but especially parents when questioning whether or not they want to provide their children with devices that have the capability of downloading certain social media platforms, therefore exposing their kids to possible negative outcomes.
Reference
Nicholson, J., Marcum, C., & Higgins, G. E. (2023). Prevalence and trends of depression among cyberbullied adolescents– Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2011 – 2019. International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime, 6(1), 45-58. Available at: https://doi.org/10.52306/ZNRR2381