Relación entre las estrategias de regulación cognitivo-emocional y los roles en el ciberacoso en adolescentes español

Relationship between cognitive-emotional regulation strategies and roles in cyberbullying among Spanish adolescents. Cyberbullying is a phenomenon that has highly detrimental effects on the mental health of adolescents, and it appears to have increased in prevalence during the Covid-19 pandemic. There is evidence that cognitive-emotional regulation strategies may explain both the perpetration and victimisation of violent behaviours. However, there is a scarcity of studies that specifically address how different cyberbullying roles (cybervictim, cyberbully and cybervictim-cyberbully) relate to the use of these emotional regulation strategies. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to analyse the prevalence of different cyberbullying roles in a sample of Spanish adolescents and to explore which cognitive-emotional regulation strategies contribute to adolescents adopting each of these roles in cyberbullying. A sample of 1,389 students completed two questionnaires assessing cyberbullying and the use of cognitive-emotional regulation strategies. The results indicated a high prevalence for each cyberbullying role. Besides, the use of certain strategies significantly predicted a greater likelihood of adopting each profile. Specifically, the use of catastrophising, blaming others, and self-blame strategies significantly increased the likelihood of being involved in cyberbullying situations by exercising some role as cybervictims, cyberbullies, and cybervictim-cyberbullies, respectively. These findings highlight the need for the development of prevention and intervention programmes focused on cognitive-emotional regulation strategies, specifically tailored to each cyberbullying role.