ABUSING OTHER BEHIND THE SCREENS: DEPRESSION OUTCOMES: Depression outcomes

Cyber-bullying (CB) and its negative effects have been studied largely in high and
middle schools, but less is known about CB in college students. The aim of this
study was to investigate the relationship between CB exposure and depression
among Hashemite University students (HU). The procedures and sample include
One thousand, eight hundred and ninety- eight students from different colleges
completed online Cyberbullying Questionnaire (CBQ) to assess their experience
with cyberbullying as victims. Two hundred and fifty- six students out of 1898 were
being recognized as victims of CB, completed online the Center for Epidemiologic
Studies Depression Scale- 20 (CESD- 20) to assess depression symptoms. The
results indicated that 13.48% of participants had experienced CB in college;
participants who identified themselves as victims of CB had increased odds of
depression in light of previous personal history with traditional bullying and long
time of internet access, but not in light of gender variable. Future implications
indicate that future studies need to recognize the effects of possible and available
interventions into young adulthood to deal with negative effect of CB on student’s
mental health status.