The prospective association between cyberbullying trajectories and poorer academic outcomes in adolescents

OBJECTIVE: Given the increasing prevalence of cyberbullying in the digital era, this study evaluated whether cyberbullying trajectories were prospectively associated with academic outcomes among early adolescents. METHODS: We analyzed a prospective cohort (N=10,003, 48.4% female) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Group-based trajectory modeling estimated patterns of adolescent-reported cyberbullying victimization from Year 2 (2018-2020; mean age: 12.1 years, SD=0.8) to Year 4 (2020-2022). Parent-reported academic outcomes, assessed at Year 5 (2021-2023), included their children's grades from the past year and the number of excused and unexcused absences, assessed separately, in the past four weeks and 12 months. Ordinal logistic regression models estimated the associations between the cyberbullying trajectories and academic outcomes, adjusting for sex, race, ethnicity, Year 2 age, household income, parent education, attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms, depressive symptoms, academic outcome measures, total screen time, individualized education plans, cyberbullying perpetration, traditional bullying, chronic conditions, smartphone ownership, and study site. RESULTS: Two cyberbullying trajectories emerged: (1) no or very low (94.9%), and (2) increasing cyberbullying (5.1%). Compared to adolescents in the no or very low cyberbullying trajectory, those in the increasing cyberbullying trajectory had higher odds of lower grades (AOR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.76), more unexcused absences in the past four weeks (AOR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.08). Cyberbullying was associated with additional academic outcomes. CONCLUSION: Cyberbullying trajectories were linked to poorer academic performance and greater excused and unexcused school absences. These findings underscore the importance of developing targeted strategies to prevent and protect against cyberbullying victimization.