Online hate speech has become a widespread problem in the daily life of adolescents. Despite growing societal and academic interest in this online risk, not much is known about the relationship between online hate speech victimization (OHSV) and adolescents' mental well-being. In addition, potential factors influencing the magnitude of this relationship remain unclear. To address these gaps in the literature, this study investigated the relationship between OHSV and depressive symptoms and the buffering effects of resilience in this relationship. The sample consists of 1,632 adolescents (49.1% girls) between 12 and 18 years old (Mage = 13.83, SDage = 1.23), recruited from nine schools across Spain. Self-report questionnaires were administered to assess OHSV, depressive symptoms, and resilience. Regression analyses revealed that OHSV was positively linked to depressive symptoms. In addition, victims of online hate speech were less likely to report depressive symptoms when they reported average or high levels of resilience (i.e., social competence, personal competence, structured style, social resources, and family cohesion) compared with those with low levels of resilience. Our findings highlight the need for the development of intervention programs and the relevance of focusing on internal and external developmental assets to mitigate negative outcomes for victims of online hate speech.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaumanS, PerryVM, WachsS. (2020) Online hate among children and adolescents. In WrightMF, SchiambergLB, eds. Child and adolescent online risk exposure. An ecological perspective. San Diego, CA: Elsevier, pp. 149–175.
2.
SponholzL. (2021) Hate speech as a form of communication in social media [in German]. In WachsS, Koch-PrieweB, ZickA, eds. Hate speech—Multidisziplinäre Analysen und Handlungsoptionen. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 15–37.
3.
WachsS, SchubarthW, KrauseN, et al. (2021) Hate speech as a challenge for schools and teacher training [in German]. In WachsS, Koch-PrieweB, ZickA, eds. Hate speech—Multidisziplinäre Analysen und Handlungsoptionen. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 279–297.
4.
KrauseN, BallaschkC, Schulze-ReicheltF, et al.“I don't let them get me down!”—A qualitative study about students' coping with hate speech [in German]. Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung, 2021:169–185.
5.
MarkogiannakiM, BiniariL, PanagouliE, et al.Adolescent perspectives about online hate speech: qualitative analysis in the SELMA project. Acta Medica Academica, 2021; 50:264–276.
6.
WachsS, MazzoneA, MilosevicT, et al.Online correlates of cyberhate involvement among young people from ten European countries: an application of the Routine Activity and Problem Behaviour Theory. Computers in Human Behaviour, 2021; 123:106872.
7.
WachsS, BilzL, WettsteinA, et al.Associations between witnessing and perpetrating online hate speech among adolescents: testing moderation effects of moral disengagement and empathy. Psychology of Violence, 2022. DOI: 10.1037/vio0000422.
8.
von SoestT, MossigeS, StefansenK, et al.A validation study of the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 2010; 32:215–225.
9.
BallaschkC, WachsS, KrauseN, et al.“Then everyone just goes along with it.” A qualitative study on reasons and motives of hate speech among students [in German]. Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung, 2021; 4:463–480.
10.
WaldronJ. (2012) The harm in hate speech. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
11.
SahaK, ChandrasekharanE, De ChoudhuryM. (2019) Prevalence and psychological effects of hateful speech in online college communities. In: Proceedings of the 10th ACM Conference on Web Science. New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 255–264.
12.
TorresL, VallejoLG. Ethnic discrimination and Latino depression: the mediating role of traumatic stress symptoms and alcohol use. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2015; 21:517–526.
13.
StefanitaO, BufD-M. Hate speech in social media and its effects on the LGBT community: a review of the current research. Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, 2021; 23:47–55.
14.
BebbingtonP. Misery and the of disease theories of depression. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 1987; 33:13–20.
15.
GeschkeD, KlaßenA, QuentM, et al. (2019) #Hate online: the creeping attack on our democracy. A nationwide representative study [in German]. 2019.
16.
ObermaierM, HofbauerM, ReinemannC. Journalists as targets of hate speech. How German journalists perceive the consequences for themselves and how they cope with it. SCM Studies in Communication and Media, 2018; 7:499–524.
17.
HoTTQ, GuC, LiC. Cyberbullying victimization and depressive symptoms in Vietnamese university students: examining social support as a mediator. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 2020; 63:100422.
18.
WangL, GeT. Does victimization predict cyberbullying perpetration? Examining depression as a mediator and self-control as a moderator. Personality and Individual Differences, 2021; 183:111135.
19.
Gámez-GuadixM, OrueI, SmithPK, et al.Longitudinal and reciprocal relations of cyberbullying with depression, substance use, and problematic internet use among adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2013; 53:446–452.
20.
WrightMF, WachsS, HarperBD. The moderation of empathy in the longitudinal association between witnessing cyberbullying, depression, and anxiety. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 2018; 12:Article 6.
21.
CameriniA-L, MarcianoL, CarraraA, et al.Cyberbullying perpetration and victimization among children and adolescents: a systematic review of longitudinal studies. Telematics and Informatics, 2020; 49:101362.
22.
HuY, BaiY, PanY, et al.Cyberbullying victimization and depression among adolescents: a meta-analysis. Psychiatry Research, 2021; 305:114198.
23.
MarcianoL, SchulzPJ, CameriniA-L. Cyberbullying perpetration and victimization in youth: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2020; 25:163–181.
24.
Gámez-GuadixM, WachsS, WrightMF. “Haters back off!” Psychometric properties of the coping with cyberhate questionnaire and relationship with well-being in Spanish adolescents. Psicothema, 2020; 1032:567–574.
25.
WrightMF, WachsS, Gámez-GuadixM. Youths' coping with cyberhate: roles of parental mediation and family support. Comunicar, 2020; 29:21–33.
26.
MastenAS. Ordinary magic: resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 2001; 56:227–238.
27.
LutharSS. (2006) Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In CicchettiD, CohenDJ, eds. Developmental psychopathology: risk, disorder, and adaption. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, pp. 739–795.
28.
VilloraB, LarrañagaE, YuberoS, et al.Relations among poly-bullying victimization, subjective well-being and resilience in a sample of late adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020; 17:590.
29.
SantosD, Mateos-PérezE, CanteroM, et al.Cyberbullying in adolescents: resilience as a protective factor of mental health outcomes. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 2021; 24:414–420.
30.
YeZ, ChenL, HarrisonSE, et al.Peer victimization and depressive symptoms among rural-to-urban migrant children in China: the protective role of resilience. Frontiers in Psychology, 2016; 7:1542.
31.
DerogatisLR, FitzparickM. (2004) The SCL-90-R, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and the BSI-18. In MaruishME, ed. The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment: Instruments for adults. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 1–41.
32.
HayesAF. (2017) Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford.
33.
AcockAC. Working with missing values. Journal of Marriage and Familiy, 2005; 67:1012–1028.
34.
WachsS, WrightMF, VazsonyiAT. Understanding the overlap between cyberbullying and cyberhate perpetration: moderating effects of toxic online disinhibition. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 2019; 29:179–188.
