Cyberbullying is a common social maladjustment that has negative repercussions on the wellbeing and development of adolescents, but numerous questions remain as to the relationship between cyberbullying and social anxiety in adolescence. This study analyzes cyberbullying profiles (screening of harassment among peers) and assesses whether these profiles vary with respect to the level of social anxiety (social anxiety scale for adolescents). The sample consisted of 1412 Spanish secondary education students aged 12 to 18 (M = 14.36, SD = 1.65). Latent class analysis and ANOVA were performed. Analyses revealed three profiles: high cyberbullying (high victimization, aggression, and aggression-victimization), low cyberbullying (moderate victimization, aggression, and aggression-victimization), and non-cyberbullying. The cyberbullying patterns varied significantly for all social anxiety subscales. Students with the high cyberbullying profile (bully–victims) presented high scores on social avoidance and distress in social situations in general with peers, whereas these students presented lower levels of fear of negative evaluation and distress and social avoidance in new situations as compared to the low cyberbullying (rarely victim/bully) and non-involved student profiles. Implications for psychologists and educational counselors and cyberbullying preventive interventions are discussed.

Little scientific attention has been paid to the problem of cyberbullying in the university environment, compared to similar studies conducted on adolescents. This study attempts to analyze the predictive capacity of certain emotional problems (anxiety, depression, and stress) and university adaptation with respect to cyberbullying in victims and aggressors. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 and the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire were administered to a sample of 1282 university students (46.33% male) aged between 18 and 46. The results suggest that high levels of depression and stress increase the probability of being a cyberbullying victim, while high levels of depression increase the probability of being a cyberbullying aggressor. Similarly, the personal–emotional and social adaptation of students are found to be predictor variables of being a cyberbullying victim, in that high levels of personal–emotional and social adaptation decrease the probability of being a victim, while high levels of personal–emotional, academic and institutional adaptation decrease the probability of being a cyberbullying victim. The results of this study are of special relevance, since they indicate that intervention programs should consider the influence of emotional intelligence, as well as the relevance students’ adaptation to university.

The devastating consequences of cyberbullying during adolescence justify the relevance of obtaining empirical evidence on the factors that may cause participation in its distinct roles. The goal of this study was to analyze the predictive capacity of aggressiveness (physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility) and emotional intelligence (attention, understanding, and emotional regulation) with respect to being a victim, aggressor or victim–aggressor of cyberbullying during adolescence. The Screening for Peer Bullying, the Aggressiveness Questionnaire and the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 were administered to a sample of 1102 Spanish secondary education students, aged 12 to 18. In general, results revealed a higher probability of being a victim, aggressor or victim–aggressor as physical aggressiveness and anger increased. On the other hand, results revealed a low probability of being a victim, aggressor or victim–aggressor as emotional understanding and emotional regulation increased. These findings highlight the importance of considering said variables when creating prevention programs to stop or reduce the social and educational issue of cyberbullying during adolescence.

There are few studies examining the relationship between aggressive behavior and emotional intelligence. This study examines the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and behavioral (physical aggression and verbal aggression), cognitive (hostility) and affective/emotional (anger) components of aggressive behavior. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- Adolescents Short Form (TEIQue-ASF) and the Aggression Questionnaire Short (AQ-S) were administered to a sample of 314 adolescents (52.5% boys) aged 12 to 17 years. The results indicated that adolescents with high scores on physical and verbal aggression, hostility and anger showed significantly lower scores in trait emotional intelligence than their peers with low scores on physical and verbal aggression, hostility and anger. This pattern of results was the same for the total sample and for boys and girls and age groups of 12-14 years and 15-17 years. Furthermore, in most cases, large effect sizes were found supporting the empirical relevance of these differences.