Associations between Coping Strategies and Cyberhate Involvement: Evidence from Adolescents across Three World Regions

Cyberhate represents a risk to adolescents' development and peaceful coexistence in democratic societies. Yet, not much is known about the relationship between adolescents' ability to cope with cyberhate and their cyberhate involvement. To fill current gaps in the literature and inform the development of media education programs, the present study investigated various coping strategies in a hypothetical cyberhate scenario as correlates for being cyberhate victims, perpetrators, and both victim-perpetrators. The sample consisted of 6829 adolescents aged 12-18 years old (M-age = 14.93, SD = 1.64; girls: 50.4%, boys: 48.9%, and 0.7% did not indicate their gender) from Asia, Europe, and North America. Results showed that adolescents who endorsed distal advice or endorsed technical coping showed a lower likelihood to be victims, perpetrators, or victim-perpetrators. In contrast, if adolescents felt helpless or endorsed retaliation to cope with cyberhate, they showed higher odds of being involved in cyberhate as victims, perpetrators, or victim-perpetrators. Finally, adolescents who endorsed close support as a coping strategy showed a lower likelihood to be victim-perpetrators, and adolescents who endorsed assertive coping showed higher odds of being victims. In conclusion, the results confirm the importance of addressing adolescents' ability to deal with cyberhate to develop more tailored prevention approaches. More specifically, such initiatives should focus on adolescents who feel helpless or feel inclined to retaliate. In addition, adolescents should be educated to practice distal advice and technical coping when experiencing cyberhate. Implications for the design and instruction of evidence-based cyberhate prevention (e.g., online educational games, virtual learning environments) will be discussed.

Automated summary

Cyberhate poses risks to the development and peaceful coexistence of adolescents in democratic societies. This study explores the relationship between adolescents' coping strategies and their involvement in cyberhate, finding that endorsing distal advice or technical coping decreases the likelihood of being a victim, perpetrator, or both. Conversely, feeling helpless or endorsing retaliation increases the odds of being involved in cyberhate. Additionally, close support and assertive coping are associated with lower victim-perpetrator odds and higher victim odds, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of addressing adolescents' ability to cope with cyberhate and developing tailored prevention approaches.