Peer-reviewed article
Cyberbullying and ICT use by immigrant youths: A serial multiple-mediator SEM analysis
Sunha Kim, Myles S. Faith ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view ·Key points
Limitations
Abstract
This study addressed the adverse effects of cyberbullying on our young people, focusing particularly on immigrant youths. To minimize cyberbullying risks, while maximizing online opportunities, this study explored two types of uses for information and communication technologies (ICT): leisure and information as risk and protective factors. By including two types of ICT use as mediators in adopting a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, this study sought to explore the full mechanism governing the ways cyberbullying affects immigrant youths including its indirect paths via two types of ICT uses as well as its direct path. The results demonstrated the need to combat cyberbullying of immigrant youths, providing empirical evidence of its harmful influences on this vulnerable population. The harmful influences of cyberbullying were more pronounced among youths who frequently used ICT for leisure than among those who used it primarily for information. Interestingly, this study identified significant indirect paths for different ICT uses for immigrant students but no significant effects for nonimmigrant students, showing the importance of targeted approaches for immigrant students.