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Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics 2014:5 143–158
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Open Access Full Text Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/AHMT.S36456
Current perspectives: the impact of cyberbullying
on adolescent health
Charisse L Nixon
Pennsylvania State University, the
Behrend College, Erie, PA, USA
Correspondence: Charisse L Nixon
4951 College Drive, Penn State
University – Erie, Erie, PA, 16563 USA
Tel +1 814 898 6041
Fax +1 814 898 6032
Email cln5@psu.edu
Abstract: Cyberbullying has become an international public health concern among adolescents,
and as such, it deserves further study. This paper reviews the current literature related to the
effects of cyberbullying on adolescent health across multiple studies worldwide and provides
directions for future research. A review of the evidence suggests that cyberbullying poses a threat
to adolescents’ health and well-being. A plethora of correlational studies have demonstrated
a cogent relationship between adolescents’ involvement in cyberbullying and negative health
indices. Adolescents who are targeted via cyberbullying report increased depressive affect,
anxiety, loneliness, suicidal behavior, and somatic symptoms. Perpetrators of cyberbullying are
more likely to report increased substance use, aggression, and delinquent behaviors. Mediating/
moderating processes have been found to influence the relationship between cyberbullying and
adolescent health. More longitudinal work is needed to increase our understanding of the effects
of cyberbullying on adolescent health over time. Prevention and intervention efforts related to
reducing cyberbullying and its associated harms are discussed.
Keywords: cyberbullying, adolescent health, prevention, intervention
Current perspectives: the impact of cyberbullying
on adolescent health
Adolescents in the United States culture are moving from using the Internet as an “extra”
in everyday communication (cyber utilization) to using it as a “primary and necessary”
mode of communication (cyber immersion).1 In fact, 95% of adolescents are connected
to the Internet.2 This shift from face-to-face communication to online communica-
tion has created a unique and potentially harmful dynamic for social relationships – a
dynamic that has recently been explored in the literature as cyberbullying and Internet
harassment.
In general, cyberbullying involves hurting someone else using information and
communication technologies. This may include sending harassing messages (via text or
Internet), posting disparaging comments on a social networking site, posting humiliating
pictures, or threatening/intimidating someone electronically.3–7 Unfortunately, cyberbul-
lying behavior has come to be accepted and expected among adolescents.8 Compared
to traditional bullying, cyberbullying is unique in that it reaches an unlimited audience
with increased exposure across time and space,6,9 preserves words and images in a more
permanent state,10 and lacks supervision.6 Further, perpetrators of cyberbullying do not
see the faces of their targets,11 and subsequently may not understand the full consequences
of their actions, thereby decreasing important feelings of personal accountability.9 This
has often been referred to in the literature as the “disinhibition effect”.12

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The Impact of Cyberbullying on Adolescent Health: Current Perspectives

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