Prevalence of mental stress and its association with witnessing cyberbullying and coping strategies among undergraduates in Hunan, China in 2021.

Publisher: IOS Press Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 9314590 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1878-7401 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09287329 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Technol Health Care Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Amsterdam : IOS Press
Original Publication: Amsterdam ; New York : Elsevier, c1993-

Cyberbullying*/psychology ; COVID-19*/epidemiology; Humans ; Coping Skills ; Adaptation, Psychological ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Prevalence ; Anxiety/epidemiology ; Students/psychology ; China/epidemiology ; Depression/epidemiology

Background: In the wave of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, there is a need to investigate the mental health status of Chinese university students.
Objective: To examine the effects of witnessing cyberbullying on psychological distress and the mediating role of coping on these effects in Chinese university students, which is yet to be examined.
Methods: 306 Chinese university students were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Linear regression was conducted to analyze the relationship between depression, anxiety and being a bystander to cyberbullying, whereas the bootstrapping approach tested the mediation effects of coping strategies.
Results: Results indicated that 27.12% of subjects (95% CI: 22.22%, 32.48%) suffered from anxiety and 44.12% (95% CI: 38.47%, 49.88%) were depressed. Meanwhile, 89.87% of subjects were involved in witnessing cyberbullying. Being a bystander to cyberbullying was weakly but significantly associated with anxiety (β= 0.195, 95% CI: 0.068, 0.292) and depression (β= 0.223, 95% CI: 0.113,0.333). Negative coping partially mediated between witnessing cyberbullying and anxiety, with mediation effect values of 0.04 (P< 0.05). While being a bystander to cyberbullying was only directly associated with depression.
Conclusion: Based on our findings, college students in Hunan, China, are experiencing anxiety, depression and cyberbullying after COVID-19. Being a bystander to cyberbullying is associated with coping strategies, anxiety, and depression. Cyberbullying has a direct impact on anxiety, but it also influences anxiety through mediating effects on coping.

Keywords: Bystander of cyberbullying; anxiety; coping strategies; depression; mediation analysis

Date Created: 20230807 Date Completed: 20240325 Latest Revision: 20240325

20240325

10.3233/THC-230305

37545277