Abstract
The problematic use of social networking sites is becoming a major public health
concern. Previous research has found that adolescents who engage in a problematic
use of social networking sites are likely to show maladjustment problems. However,
little is known about its links with peer aggression and victimization. The main goal
of this study was to analyze the relationship between problematic use of online social
networking sites, peer aggression ¿overt vs. relational and reactive vs. instrumental¿, and
peer victimization ¿overt physical and verbal, and relational¿, taking into account gender
and age (in early and mid-adolescence). Participants were selected using randomized
cluster sampling considering school and class as clusters. A battery of instruments
was applied to 1,952 adolescents¿ secondary students from Spain (Andalusia) (50.4%
boys), aged 11 to 16 (M = 14.07, SD = 1.39). Results showed that girls and 14¿16
adolescents were more involved in a problematic use ...
The problematic use of social networking sites is becoming a major public health
concern. Previous research has found that adolescents who engage in a problematic
use of social networking sites are likely to show maladjustment problems. However,
little is known about its links with peer aggression and victimization. The main goal
of this study was to analyze the relationship between problematic use of online social
networking sites, peer aggression ¿overt vs. relational and reactive vs. instrumental¿, and
peer victimization ¿overt physical and verbal, and relational¿, taking into account gender
and age (in early and mid-adolescence). Participants were selected using randomized
cluster sampling considering school and class as clusters. A battery of instruments
was applied to 1,952 adolescents¿ secondary students from Spain (Andalusia) (50.4%
boys), aged 11 to 16 (M = 14.07, SD = 1.39). Results showed that girls and 14¿16
adolescents were more involved in a problematic use of online social networking sites.
Furthermore, adolescents with high problematic use of online social networking sites
were more involved in overt¿reactive and instrumental¿and relational¿reactive and
instrumental¿aggressive behaviors, and self-reported higher levels of overt¿physical
and verbal¿and relational victimization. Even though boys indicated higher levels of
all types of victimization, girls with high problematic use of online social networking
sites scored the highest on relational victimization. Relating to age, early adolescents
(aged 11¿14) with higher problematic use of online social networking sites reported the
highest levels of overt verbal and relational victimization. Overall, results suggested the
co-occurrence of problematic use of online social networking sites, peer aggression and
victimization. In addition, results showed the influence that gender and age had on peer
victimization. This study highlights the continuity between offline and online domains with
regard to maladjustment problems in adolescence.
