Determining the relationship of cyberbullying/victimization with problematic internet use and digital literacy in secondary school students

The aim of this research is to determine the relationship of cyberbullying/victimization with problematic internet use and digital literacy in secondary school students. The sample of the research consists of 404 secondary school students studying in official state secondary schools selected from among the secondary schools located in the Şişli district of Istanbul province in the 2023-2024 academic year. "Personal Information Form", "Digital Literacy Scale", "Revised Cyberbullying Inventory II" and "Problematic Internet Use Scale-Adolescent" form were used to collect data in the research. Within the scope of the research, data were collected from a total of 404 seventh and eighth grade middle school students, 210 girls and 194 boys. Pearson Correlation Analysis, Multiple Linear Regression Analysis, One-Way ANOVA Test, Welch ANOVA Test, Independent Samples T-Test, Levene Test, Games-Howell Post hoc Analysis and Tukey HSD Post hoc Analysis were used in the analysis of the data. According to the research results; a moderately significant positive correlation was found between cyberbullying and cyber victimization; a moderately significant positive correlation was found between cyberbullying and problematic internet use. A positive and moderately significant correlation was also observed between cyber victimization and problematic internet use. While a weak and significant positive correlation was found between digital literacy and cyberbullying, a weak and positive significant correlation was found between digital literacy and cyber victimization. No significant relationship was found between digital literacy and problematic internet use. It was concluded that problematic internet use and digital literacy showed a positive relationship with both cyberbullying and cyber victimization. In other words, as problematic internet use and digital literacy increase, cyberbullying and cyber victimization increase. Finally, it was found that students' cyberbullying and cybervictimization levels differed according to the average daily hours spent on the Internet other than studying; cyberbullying and cybervictimization scores increased in students who spent more time on the Internet.