Non-linear association between cyberbullying victimization and Internet addiction in Chinese adolescents: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The links between cyberbullying victimization and Internet addiction among adolescents have been established. However, how different levels of Internet addiction are related to the risk of cyberbullying victimization among youth is still unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the relationship between Internet addiction and the risk of cyberbullying victimization among Chinese adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Guangdong Province, China, in June 2021. The multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association of cyberbullying victimization with Internet addiction, and the restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to explore the dose-response relationship between cyberbullying victimization and Internet addiction. RESULTS: Among the included 1992 participants, 12.1% and 28.1% were cyberbullying victims and Internet addicted, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, cyberbullying victimization was significantly positively associated with Internet addiction [OR = 1.03, 95% CI = (1.02, 1.04), P < 0.001]. Similar results were found in subgroups stratified by family member's relationship (P for interaction = 0.038). Furthermore, the RCS analysis revealed an S-shaped non-linear relationship between cyberbullying victimization risk and Internet addiction (P for non-linear = 0.0223), and the cyberbullying victimization risk increased sharply when the IAT was 40. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicated a significant positive non-linear association between the risk of cyberbullying victimization and Internet addiction among Chinese adolescents. However, further longitudinal research is needed to validate the causal relationship between these two.