Cyberbullying and mental distress among adolescents in secondary school: Tunisian cross sectional study

Abstract Purpose: Ours study aimed to describe the characteristics of adolescents who are victims of cyberbullying and to evaluate the psychological state of these victims. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study conducted with a representative sample of adolescents attending 6 schools in the Sfax region during the month of February 2022. The pre-established form containing socio-demographic and family information was used. Cyberbullying was assessed using the "Cyber-Harassment Student Survey". Mental distress was evaluated using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), validated in Arabic. Results : Data was collected data from 396 adolescents, of which 54.8% were female. The average age of participants was 16.65 years. Cyberbullying was reported by 47% of the surveyed adolescents. Factors associated with cyberbullying in these adolescents included residing in urban areas (p = 0.017), experiencing relational problems with parents (p = 0.001) and siblings (p = 0.002), the presence of behavioral problems in school (p = 0.009), and low academic performance (p = 0.000) Among cyberbullying victims, 41.3% reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms; 47.8% had moderate to severe anxiety levels, and 29.5% had moderate to severe stress levels. Cyberbullying was strongly correlated with depression (p < 0.0001), anxiety (p = 0.00), and stress (p = 0.00). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that cyberbullying is widespread within schools and has negative consequences on the mental health of young individuals. Recognizing this prevalence is essential and calls for a prevention strategy against cyber-related issues.