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.

Summary: This study analyzes the psychometric properties of the Spanish translation of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY; Matson, Rotatori & Helsel, 1983 ), which assesses the degree of appropriate social behavior. This social behavior self-report was applied to a sample of 634 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. The exploratory factor analysis isolated four factors: Aggressiveness/Antisocial Behavior, Social Skills/Assertiveness, Conceit/Haughtiness, and Loneliness/Social Anxiety, which accounted for the 33.28% variance. The internal consistency was high (α = .88). Correlations with similar self-reports, the Assertiveness Scale for Adolescents, the Teenage Inventory of Social Skills, and the Assertiveness Scale for Children and Adolescents, were statistically significant. Inappropriate social behavior measured with the MESSY correlated positively with the Psychoticism and Neuroticism scales, and negatively with the Extraversion scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Female adolescents obtained lower scores in Aggressiveness/Antisocial Behavior and in Conceit/Haughtiness, and higher scores in Social Skills/Assertiveness, displaying greater appropriate social behavior than male adolescents. No significant differences were found for gender in Loneliness/Social Anxiety, the only factor in which a worsening with age and a significant gender× age interaction effect were found.

The 2 x 2 model of dispositional perfectionism has been very well received by researchers of the topic, leading to the creation of new studies that have analyzed the way in which the four proposed subtypes are distinctly associated with measures of adaptation and maladjustment. The goal of this study was to determine the possible existence of four profiles of child perfectionism that are congruent with the subtypes proposed by the 2 x 2 model, and whether these subtypes are associated with school anxiety, in accordance with the hypotheses established by the model. The sample was composed of 2157 students from Spanish Primary Education aged between 8 and 11 years (M = 9.60, SD = 1.24). The Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale was used to assess Socially Prescribed Perfectionism and Self-Oriented Perfectionism, and the School Anxiety Inventory for Primary Education was used to measure school anxiety. The results of cluster analysis identified four differential groups of perfectionists similar to the subtypes defined by the 2 x 2 model: Non-Perfectionism, Pure Personal Standards Perfectionism (Pure PSP), Pure Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism (Pure ECP), and Mixed Perfectionism. The four groups presented a differentiable pattern of association with school anxiety, with the exception of Pure PSP and Pure ECP, which showed no significant differences. Participants classified as Non-perfectionists presented the most adaptive outcomes, whereas subjects included in the Mixed Perfectionism group scored significantly higher on school anxiety than the three remaining groups. To conclude, the results partially supported the hypotheses of the 2 x 2 model, questioning the consideration of Self-Oriented Perfectionism as a positive manifestation of perfectionism and showing that it is the combination of high scores in both perfectionist dimensions, Self-Oriented Perfectionism and Socially Prescribed Perfectionism, that implies higher levels of school anxiety. These findings should be taken into account when generalizing the 2 x 2 model to child population.