Mitigating cyberbullying’s impact on children’s well-being: The roles of digital literacy and cognitive emotion regulation
摘要
Extensive online exposure of children has led to an increasing incidence of cyberbullying, which can have adverse effects on their well-being. This study investigated the roles of digital literacy and cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies on children’s subjective well-being under different forms of cyberbullying experiences (i.e., perpetration, victimization, and bystander). Data were collected from 1767 primary students (49.12% girls) from Hong Kong using a self-reported survey on cyberbullying experiences, CER strategies, and subjective well-being, and a performance-based assessment on digital literacy. A parallel mediation model was employed to examine whether cyberbullying experiences mediate the effects of digital literacy on well-being, with subsequent moderated mediation models utilized to investigate whether CER strategies moderate the relationships between cyberbullying experiences and well-being. Results showed that (1) digital literacy positively predicted well-being; (2) students with higher digital literacy reported lower levels of cyberbullying perpetration and victimization, resulting in better well-being; (3) both adaptive and maladaptive CER strategies positively predicted well-being; and (4) only maladaptive CER strategies buffered the negative relationships between cyberbullying perpetration or victimization and well-being. This study highlights the importance of digital literacy and CER strategies in promoting children’s well-being under cyberbullying experiences, which can inform relevant educational policies and intervention programs.