Peer cyber-victimization and addictive phone use: Indirect effects of depression and anxiety among college students

Abstract

While social media offer opportunities for young adults, including college students, to maintain relationships and seek social support, concerns have been raised about negative social interactions, such as cyber-victimization, and the role that cyber-victimization may play in exacerbating excessive or problematic phone use. The current study examined the association between peer cyber-victimization and addictive phone use, and the ways in which anxiety and depressive symptoms indirectly affect that relationship. To examine these relations, 540 undergraduate students from a Midwestern university in the United States (66% female, 82% White, 79% between 18 to 20-years-old) completed a computer-based survey that measured peer cyber-victimization, addictive phone use, depressive symptoms, and anxiety. The results showed a significant positive association between peer cyber-victimization and addictive phone use. Anxiety, but not depressive symptoms, had a significant indirect effect on the association between peer cyber-victimization and addictive phone use. The findings indicate that experiencing peer cyber-victimization may increase one’s likelihood to experience addictive phone use, potentially through experiencing anxiety. Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand directionality of the relations among these constructs.