Investigation of the relationship between cognitive flexibility, problem internet use and cyberbullying in high school students

The aim of this thesis is to examine whether there is a significant relationship between cognitive flexibility, problematic internet use and cyberbullying in high school students. In the research in which the relational survey model, one of the quantitative research types, was used, the participants were selected by convenient sampling method. The sample group of the study consisted of a total of 1120 participants, 700 girls (62.5%) and 420 boys (37.5%) studying at 6 different high schools in Diyarbakır. In the study, "Personal Information Form", "Cognitive Flexibility Scale", "Problematic Internet Use Scale-Adolescent Form" and "Cyber Bullying Scale" were used. SPSS 25 package program was used in the analysis of the data included in the study. With the Kolmogorov Smirnow Test, it was checked whether the data showed normal distribution and because the data did not show normal distribution (p> 0.05), non-parametric test methods were used. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used in the comparisons in independent multiple groups, and then the p values obtained with the Whitney U test used in the independent paired group comparisons were compared with the calculated p values and the conclusion was reached. While using the Sperman Rank Correlation coefficient to determine the relationship between the variables in the study; Cronbach α coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the scales. As a result of the study, a statistically significant and negative correlation was found between cognitive flexibility scores and problematic internet use and cyberbullying scores. On the other hand, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between problematic internet use scores and cyberbullying scores. In the study, a statistically significant differences were also found between high school students' genders, time spent on the internet and their internet use purposes, and their cognitive flexibility levels, problematic internet use and cyberbullying behaviors. Keywords: High School, Cognitive Flexibility, Problematic Internet Use, Cyber Bullying