The rise of digital platforms resulted in increased addiction to social networking sites, becoming problematic for many digital inhabitants.
According to researchers at the University of Georgia, increased preoccupation with social media platforms may be linked to cyberbullying behaviors.
The study’s results were publicized in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Counseling.
Researchers included 428 young participants aged 13-19, who were surveyed during the study.
Based on the findings: “Our results indicated that higher social media addiction scores, more hours spent online, and identifying as male significantly predicted cyberbullying perpetration. Thus, those who spend more time online, have elevated social media addiction scores, and identify as male may be at higher risk for committing acts of cyberbullying,” researchers concluded.
“We provided implications of these findings for clinicians working with adolescent clients.”
