Cyberbullying, Psychological Well-being and Social Support among University Students: A Quantitative Sociological Analysis

Abstract

Cyberbullying has become an important social problem in educational environments because digital communication enables harassment, humiliation and social exclusion to extend beyond physical settings. The present study examined the relationship between cyberbullying, psychological well-being and perceived social support among students. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used and data were collected from 99 respondents. Traditional bullying, cyberbullying, psychological well-being, social support and academic outcomes were measured using structured and previously validated instruments. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, principal component analysis, hierarchical regression, mediation, moderation and moderated mediation. The results showed a significant positive relationship between cyberbullying and psychological well-being (r = .234, p < .05) and a strong positive association between cyberbullying and social support (r = .805, p < .01). Psychological well-being was very strongly related to academic outcomes (r = .943, p < .01), whereas social support was moderately associated with academic outcomes (r = .418, p < .01). Mediation analysis revealed that cyberbullying significantly predicted psychological well-being (B = .325, p = .020), while psychological well-being significantly predicted academic outcomes (B = .934, p < .001), but the indirect effect was not statistically significant. Moderation analysis further showed that social support did not significantly moderate the relationship between cyberbullying and academic outcomes (B = -.006, p = .920). The results suggest that cyberbullying is closely connected with students' psychological and social experiences, although the associations are complex.