Exploring profiles based on cyber victimization in young adults

The aim of this study was to identify the latent profiles of young adults based on their levels of cyber victimization, perceived social support, self-compassion, and difficulties in emotion regulation (DER), and to examine whether these profiles differed according to gender and academic year. The study included 425 young adults enrolled at a public university in Türkiye. Data were collected using the Cyber Victimization Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) and the R3STEP procedure were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed four distinct latent profiles: The Protective Resources Profile, Low Self-Compassion / High DER Profile, Moderate Psychosocial Adjustment Profile, and High Self-Compassion / Average DER Profile. The R3STEP analysis indicated that gender was significantly associated with latent profile membership, whereas academic year showed limited associations. Specifically, compared with male students, female students were less likely to belong to the Low Self-Compassion / High DER Profile and the High Self-Compassion / Average DER Profile rather than the Protective Resources Profile, but were more likely to belong to the Moderate Psychosocial Adjustment Profile rather than the Low Self-Compassion / High DER Profile. Additionally, fourth-year students were more likely than first-year students to belong to the Low Self-Compassion / High DER Profile rather than the Protective Resources Profile.