Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Cyber Victimization and Aggression: Are They Linked with Adolescent Smoking and Drinking?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Child & Youth Care Forum Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Adolescent substance use represents a significant public health concern. Growing research has linked peer victimization with substance use among youth; however, less attention has been devoted to the role of cyber victimization specifically, while controlling for peer aggression.

Objective

This study examined the unique associations between cyber victimization and adolescent smoking and drinking, controlling for traditional peer victimization types and for peer aggression.

Methods

Participants were 1064 9th–12th graders, who completed self-report measures assessing peer victimization, peer aggression, and the frequency of cigarette and alcohol use. Censored regression analyses were used to evaluate study aims.

Results

Greater cyber victimization was related to greater smoking, drinking, and binge drinking, controlling for traditional forms of peer victimization, but not when controlling for peer aggression. Cyber aggression emerged as a unique correlate of all substance use outcomes.

Conclusions

Cyber victimization and cyber aggression co-occur with adolescent cigarette and alcohol use; however, only cyber aggression demonstrates unique associations. Findings suggest that prevention programs for adolescent substance use might evaluate and potentially target adolescents’ victimization and aggression, especially in the cyber realm. Adolescent substance use may be important to evaluate and monitor in anti-bullying and victimization interventions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baan, R., Straif, K., Grosse, Y., Secretan, B., El Ghissassi, F., Bouvard, V., & Cogliano, V. (2007). Carcinogenicity of alcohol beverages. The Lancet Oncology, 8, 292–293.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Botvin, G. (2000). Preventing drug abuse in schools: Social and competence enhancement approaches targeting individual-level etiological factors. Addictive Behaviors, 25, 887–897.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brener, N. D., Kann, L., McManus, T., Kinchen, S. A., Sundberg, E. C., & Ross, J. G. (2002). Reliability of the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire. Journal of Adolescent Health, 31, 336–342.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burk, W. J., van der Vorst, H., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2012). Alcohol use and friendship dynamics: Selection and socialization in early-, middle-, and late-adolescent peer networks. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 73, 89–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Youth risk behavior survey. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/pdf/questionnaire/2011_xxh_questionnaire.pdf.

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 61(4), 1–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2013. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 63(4), 1–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1996). Children’s treatment by peers: Victims of relational and overt aggression. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 367–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crosnoe, R. (2006). The connection between academic failure and adolescent drinking in secondary school. Sociology of Education, 79, 44–60.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • De Los Reyes, A., & Prinstein, M. J. (2004). Applying depression-distortion hypotheses to the assessment of peer victimization in adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 325–335.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delsing, M. J. M. H., ter Bogt, T. F. M., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2007). Adolescents’ peer crowd identification in the Netherlands: Structure and associations with problem behaviors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 467–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dempsey, A. G., Sulkowski, M. L., Nichols, R., & Storch, E. A. (2009). Differences between peer victimization in cyber and physical settings and associated psychosocial adjustment in early adolescence. Psychology in the Schools, 46, 962–972.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredstrom, B. K., Adams, R. E., & Gilman, R. (2011). Electronic and school-based victimization: Unique contexts for adjustment difficulties during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 405–415.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gámez-Guadix, M., Orue, I., Smith, P. K., & Calvete, E. (2013). Longitudinal and reciprocal relations of cyberbullying with depression, substance use, and problematic internet use among adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53, 446–452.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goebert, D., Else, I., Matsu, C., Chung-Do, J., & Chang, J. Y. (2011). The impact of cyberbullying on substance use and mental health in a multiethnic sample. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 15, 1282–1286.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gradinger, P., Strohmeier, D., & Spiel, C. (2009). Traditional bullying and cyberbullying: Identification of risk groups for adjustment problems. Journal of Psychology, 217, 205–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunning, M., Sussman, S., Rohrbach, L. A., Kniazev, V., & Masagutov, R. (2009). Concurrent predictors of cigarette and alcohol use among U.S. and Russian adolescents. Journal of Drug Education, 39, 385–400.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, J. L., Shapero, B. G., Stange, J. P., Hamlat, E. J., Abramson, L. Y., & Alloy, L. B. (2013). Emotional maltreatment, peer victimization, and depressive versus anxiety symptoms during adolescence: Hopelessness as a mediator. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 42, 332–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2008). Cyberbullying: An exploratory analysis of factors related to offending and victimization. Deviant Behavior, 29, 129–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmbeck, G. N. (2002) Post-hoc probing of significant moderational and mediational effects in studies of pediatric populations. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27, 87–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ioannou, S. (2003). Young people’s accounts of smoking, exercising, eating and drinking alcohol: being cool or being unhealthy? Critical Public Health, 13, 357–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development: A longitudinal study of youth. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khantzian, E. J. (1997). The self-medication hypothesis of substance use disorders: A reconsideration and recent applications. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 4, 231–244.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, K. M., Fleming, C. G., Manahan, K. C., & Catalano, R. F. (2011). Changes in self-control problems and attention problems during middle school predict alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use during high school. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 25, 69–79.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. P. (2007). Electronic bullying among middle school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, S22–S30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • La Greca, A. M., & Lemanek, K. L. (1996). Assessment as a process in pediatric psychology. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 21, 137–151.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • La Greca, A. M., Prinstein, M. J., & Fetter, M. D. (2001). Adolescent peer crowd affiliation: Linkages with health-risk behaviors and close friendships. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 26, 131–143.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landoll, R. R., La Greca, A. M., & Lai, B. S. (2013). Aversive peer experiences on social networking sites: Development of the social networking—Peer Experiences Questionnaire (SN-PEQ). Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 695–705.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landoll, R. R., La Greca, A. M., Lai, B.S., Chan, S. F., & Herge, W. M. (in press). Cybervictimization by peers: Prospective associations with adolescent social anxiety and depressive symptoms. Journal of Adolescence.

  • Latvala, A., Rose, R. J., Pulkkinen, L., Dick, D. M., Korhonen, T., & Kaprio, J. (2014). Drinking, smoking, and educational achievement: Cross-lagged associations from adolescence to adulthood. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 137, 106–113.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lenhart, A. (2007). Cyberbullying. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project.

    Google Scholar 

  • Litwiller, B. J., & Brausche, A. M. (2013). Cyber bullying and physical bullying in adolescent suicide: The role of violence behavior and substance use. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 675–684.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luk, J. W., Wang, J., & Simons-Morton, B. G. (2010). Bullying victimization and substance use among U.S. adolescents: Mediation by depression. Prevention Science, 11, 355–359.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Luk, J. W., Wang, J., & Simons-Morton, B. G. (2012). The co-occurrence of substance use and bullying behaviors among U.S. adolescents: Understanding demographic characteristics and social influences. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1351–1360.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Cortesi, S., & Gasser, U. (2013). Teens and technology 2013. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, W. A., Hitch, J. E., & Spoth, R. L. (2009). Longitudinal relations among negative affect, substance use, and peer deviance during the transition from middle to late adolescence. Substance Use and Misuse, 44, 1142–1159.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mathys, C., Burk, W. J., & Cillessen, A. H. N. (2013). Popularity as a moderator of peer selection and socialization of adolescent alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 513–523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayeux, L., Sandstrom, M. J., & Cillessen, A. H. N. (2008). Is being popular a risky proposition? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18, 49–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, K. J., Ybarra, M., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). The relative importance of online victimization in understanding depression, delinquency, and substance use. Child Maltreatment, 12, 314–324.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, S. E., Norman, R. E., Sly, P. D., Whitehouse, A. J. O., Zubrick, S. R., & Scott, J. (2014). Adolescent peer aggression and its association with mental health and substance use in an Australian cohort. Journal of Adolescence, 37, 11–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K. & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2012). Mplus user’s guide. seventh edition. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

  • Osgood, D. W., Finken, L. L., & McMorris, B. J. (2002). Analyzing multiple-item measures of crime and deviance II: Tobit regression analysis of transformed scores. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 18, 319–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osgood, D. W., Ragan, D. T., Wallace, L., Gest, S. D., Feinberg, M. E., & Moody, J. (2013). Peers and the emergence of alcohol use: Influence and selection processes in adolescent friendship networks. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 500–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peleg-Oren, N., Cardenas, G. A., Comerford, M., & Galea, S. (2012). An association between bullying behaviors and alcohol use among middle school students. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 32, 761–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, C. L., Williams, C. L., Komro, K. A., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Stigler, M. H., Munson, K. A., & Forster, J. L. (2002). Project Northland: Long-term outcomes of community action to reduce adolescent alcohol use. Health Education Research, 17, 117–132.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Piko, B. F. (2006). Adolescent smoking and drinking: The role of communal mastery and other social influences. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 102–114.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rehm, J., Gmel, G., Sempos, C. T., & Trevisan, M. (2003). Alcohol-related morbidity and mortality. Alcohol Research & Health, 27, 39–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, R. S., La Greca, A. M., & Harrison, H. M. (2009). Peer victimization and social anxiety in adolescents: Prospective and reciprocal relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 1096–1109.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Slonje, R., & Smith, P. K. (2008). Cyberbullying: Another main type of bullying? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 147–154.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sticca, F., & Perren, S. (2013). Is cyberbullying worse than traditional bullying? Examining the differential roles of medium, publicity, and anonymity for the perceived severity of bullying. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 739–750.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, T. N., Farrell, A. D., & Kliewer, W. (2006). Peer victimization in early adolescence: Association between physical and relational victimization and drug use, aggression, and delinquent behaviors among urban middle school students. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 119–137.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tharp-Taylor, S., Haviland, A., & D’Amico, E. J. (2009). Victimization from mental and physical bullying and substance use in early adolescence. Addictive Behaviors, 34, 561–567.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R. S. Y., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2012). Peer victimization and internalizing symptoms from adolescence into young adulthood: Building strength through emotional support. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 290–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Census Bureau (2012). Hispanic heritage month 2012: September 15–October 15. Retrieved from. http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb12-ff19.html

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2007). The surgeon general’s call to action to prevent and reduce underage drinking. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2014). The health consequences of smoking—50 years of progress: A report of the surgeon general. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health.

  • Wang, J., Iannotti, R. J., & Luk, J. W. (2012). Patterns of adolescent bullying behaviors: Physical, verbal, exclusion, rumor, and cyber. Journal of School Psychology, 50, 521–534.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., Iannotti, R. J., & Nansel, T. R. (2009). School bullying among adolescents in the United States: Physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45, 368–375.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., Nansel, T. R., & Iannotti, R. J. (2011). Cyber and traditional bullying: Differential association with depression. Journal of Adolescent Health, 48, 415–417.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wiehe, S. E., Garrison, M. M., Christakis, D. A., Ebel, B. E., & Rivara, F. P. (2005). A systematic review of school-based smoking prevention trials with long-term follow-up. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36, 162–169.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wigderson, S., & Lynch, M. (2013). Cyber- and traditional peer victimization: Unique relationships with adolescent well-being. Psychology of Violence, 3, 297–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Windle, M. (2000). Parental, sibling, and peer influences on adolescent substance use and alcohol problems. Applied Developmental Science, 4, 98–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, M. F., & Li, Y. (2013). The association between cyber victimization and subsequent cyber aggression: The moderating effect of peer rejection. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 662–674.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ybarra, M. L., Diener-West, M., & Leaf, P. J. (2007). Examining the overlap in Internet harassment and school bullying: Implications for school intervention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, S42–S50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zehe, J. M., Colder, C. R., Read, J. P., Wieczorek, W. F., & Lengua, L. L. (2013). Social and generalized anxiety symptoms and alcohol and cigarette use in early adolescence: The moderating role of perceived peer norms. Addictive Behaviors, 38, 1931–1939.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the Cooper Fellowship Award (to the second author), the National Institute of Child and Human Development (T32 HD07510 training grant, support for the first author), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Doctoral Foreign Research Award DFS129315, to the first author).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Miami, 5665 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA

    Sherilynn F. Chan & Annette M. La Greca

Authors
  1. Sherilynn F. Chan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Annette M. La Greca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sherilynn F. Chan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chan, S.F., La Greca, A.M. Cyber Victimization and Aggression: Are They Linked with Adolescent Smoking and Drinking?. Child Youth Care Forum 45, 47–63 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-015-9318-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-015-9318-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation