Longitudinal Association Among Internet Addiction, Cyberbullying Victimization and Quality of Life Among Children: Is Parental Mediation a Protective Factor?

This study aims to examine the direct and indirect relationship between internet addiction and quality of life through the mediating role of cyberbullying victimization and the moderating role of parental mediation and gender using a two‐wave longitudinal design with a 6‐month interval. A total of 6...

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Published in:Child & Family Social Work Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 1415 - 1432
Main Authors: Ding, Ning, Li, Chunkai
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Aug2026
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Aug2026
      vid: 31
      iid: 3
      pid: 480
      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        10.1111/cfs.70056
        195096772
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        atl: Longitudinal Association Among Internet Addiction, Cyberbullying Victimization and Quality of Life Among Children: Is Parental Mediation a Protective Factor?
      aug:
        au:
          Ding, Ning
          Li, Chunkai
        affil: Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
      sug:
        subj:
          Internet Addiction Psychosocial Factors
          Cyberbullying Psychosocial Factors
          Victims Psychosocial Factors
          Quality of Life
          Parent-Child Relations
          Parenting
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Child
          Adolescence
          Prospective Studies
          Multi-Stage Cluster
          Schools, Elementary
          Schools, Middle
          China
          Self Report
          Questionnaires
          Coefficient alpha
          Summated Rating Scaling
          Descriptive Statistics
          Data Analysis Software
          Pearson's Correlation Coefficient
          P-Value
          Social Media
          Social Behavior
          Adolescent Behavior
          Mental Health
          Stress, Psychological
          Child Welfare
          Mediation Analysis
          Internet
          Computers and Computerization
          Family Relations
          Funding Source
          Clinical Assessment Tools
          Scales
          Child: 6-12 years
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: This study aims to examine the direct and indirect relationship between internet addiction and quality of life through the mediating role of cyberbullying victimization and the moderating role of parental mediation and gender using a two‐wave longitudinal design with a 6‐month interval. A total of 649 students graded 6 to 9 participated in this research, comprising 47.5% males and 52.5% females. The results showed that internet addiction negatively predicted quality of life (β = −0.093, p = 0.032), and cyberbullying victimization (β = −0.014, p = 0.033, 95%CI [−0.020, −0.001]) partly mediated this negative association. Unexpectedly, restrictive mediation may exacerbate the negative impact of internet addiction on quality of life (β = −0.086, p = 0.019). Active mediation (β = 0.076, p = 0.036) and restrictive mediation (β = 0.098, p = 0.009) could both mitigate the negative effects of cyberbullying victimization on quality of life. Finally, results showed that females are more vulnerable to poor quality of life (βmale = 0.001, p = 0.991; βfemale = −0.201, p = 0.001) and increased levels of cyberbullying victimization (βmale = 0.036, p = 0.561; βfemale = −0.231, p < 0.001) induced by internet addiction compared to males. These results underscore the proliferating process of internet‐related risks and their potentially adverse influences, elucidating the protective influence of various forms of parental mediation and delineating gender‐specific differences within these relationships. Policymakers, social workers and parents can take measures to disrupt the proliferation of internet‐related risks, provide gender‐sensitive training interventions and focus on parental active mediation to protect children from internet addiction and cyberbullying victimization.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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