Determining the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and depression among students attending at Akdeniz University Medical Faculty

Determining the Relationship Between Cyberbullying Victimization and Depression Among Students Attending at Akdeniz University Medical Faculty Aim: In this study; it was aimed to investigate the rate of depression development in students who were exposed to cyberbullying and the prevalence of cyberbullying in students studying in the preclinical period (first three classes) of the medical school, and to determine the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and depression. Material and Methods: Within the scope of the study, a total of 337 students from 1 to 3 semesters studying at the medical faculty were administered the sociodemographic data questionnaire with face-to-face interview technique, as well as the patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale and the cyber victimization scale. Results: The total score average of the medical faculty students in the cyber victimization scale was found to be 27.60 ± 4.53, and the average score for the patient health questionnaire-9 scale was 9.67 ± 5.10. PHQ-9 scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in women than men, higher in those who did not choose the medical school voluntarily than those who chose the medical school voluntarily, and higher in those who had experience a negative event related to themselves or their family in the last year. According to the information communication technology and internet access information of the students, the comparison of the total scores of both PHQ-9 and the cyber victimization scale had no statistically significant differences. Cyber victimization scale total scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in those who had experience a negative event related to themselves or their family in the last year. It was found that there was a positive, low or insignificantly strong and statistically significant correlation between daily internet usage time, PHQ-9 scores and Cyber Victim Scale scores. Conclusion: Being a woman, not choosing the medical school voluntarily and having experienced a negative event about himself/herself or his/her family in the last 1 year increased the depression scores. Increasing daily internet usage time also increases PHQ-9 and cyber victimization scale scores (r = 0.134, p = 0.017 and r = 0.248, p <0.001, respectively). These results show not only the importance of physicians and educators who want to improve the health of medical students and increase their success in evaluating whether students experience depression and cyber victimization, but also shows the importance of planning health-enhancing and victimization prevention initiatives. Key Words: Medical student, cyber victimization, depression