The present study used quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate contextual factors and motivations associated with emerging adults’ electronic aggression victimization and perpetration with friends and dating partners. Participants (N = 226) reported online about electronic aggression occurrence and motivations, family risk, support from friends, and emotion regulation. Males reported more victimization than perpetration overall, whereas females reported more victimization than perpetration only with friends. Jealousy/insecurity emerged as the most common motivation for electronic perpetration; second most common was humor for males and negative emotion for females. Overall, risky family environment was associated with electronic aggression; yet, support from friends and emotion regulation each moderated this association. Discussion addresses potential miscommunications that can occur in electronic communication and the need to look at the interplay between in-person and online interactions.
AikenL. S.WestS. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
2.
AngsterA.FrankM.LesterD. (2010). An exploratory study of students’ use of cell phones, texting, and social networking sites. Psychological Reports, 107, 402–404. doi:10.2466/17.PR0.107.5.402-404
3.
ArmsdenG. C.GreenbergM. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427–454. doi:1007/BF02202939
4.
ArnettJ. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469
5.
ArnettJ. J. (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens to through the twenties. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
6.
BankL.BurrastonB. (2001). Abusive home environments as predictors of poor adjustment during adolescence and early adulthood. Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 195–217. doi:10.1002/jcop.1014
7.
BasowS. A.CahillK. F.PhelanJ. E.LongshoreK.McGillicuddy-DeLisiA. (2007). Perceptions of relational and physical aggression among college students: Effects of gender of perpetrator, target, and perceiver. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31, 85–95. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00333.x
8.
BennettD. C.GuranE. L.RamosM. C.MargolinG. (2011). College students’ electronic victimization in friendships and dating relationships: Anticipated distress and associations with risky behaviors. Violence and Victims, 26, 410–429. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.26.4.410
9.
BoyatzisR. E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. New York, NY: Sage.
10.
BrownJ. D. (2006). Emerging adults in a media-saturated world. In ArnettJ. J.TannerJ. L. (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age of the 21st century (pp. 219–234). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
11.
CollinsW. A.van DulmenM. (2006). Friendships and romance in emerging adulthood: Assessing distinctiveness in close relationships. In ArnettJ. J.TannerJ. L. (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age of the 21st century (pp. 219–234). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
12.
CongerR. D.CuiM.BryantC. M.ElderG. H. (2000). Competence in early adult romantic relationships: A developmental perspective on family influences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 224–237. doi:10.1037/1522-3736.4.1.411a
13.
CurtisW. J.CicchettiD. (2007). Emotion and resilience: A multilevel investigation of hemispheric electroencephalogram symmetry and emotion regulation in maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 811–840. doi:10.1017/S095457907000405
14.
David-FerdonC.HertzM. F. (2009). Electronic media and youth violence: A CDC issue brief for researchers. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control.
15.
DilmaçB. (2009). Psychological needs as a predictor of cyber bullying: A preliminary report on college students. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 9, 1307–1325.
16.
DodgeK. A.BatesJ. E.PettitG. S. (1990). Mechanisms in the cycle of violence. Science, 250, 1678–1683.
17.
EhrensaftM. K.CohenP.BrownJ.SmailesE.ChenH.JohnsonJ. G. (2003). Intergenerational transmission of partner violence: A 20-year prospective study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 741–753. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.71.4.741
18.
EisenbergN.FabesR. A.ShepardS. A.MurphyB. C.GuthrieI. K.JonesS. J.…MaszkP. (1997). Contemporaneous and longitudinal prediction of children’s social functioning from regulation and emotionality. Child Development, 68, 642–664. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1997.tb04227.x
19.
FelittiV. J.AndaR. F.NordenbergD.WilliamsonD. F.SpitzA. M.EdwardsV.…MarksJ. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The adverse childhood experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 14, 245–258. doi:10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8
20.
FinchamF. D.CuiM. (2011). Emerging adulthood and romantic relationships: An introduction. In FinchamF. D.CuiM. (Eds.), Romantic relationships in emerging adulthood (pp. 3–12). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
21.
GrossJ. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39, 281–291. doi:10.1017/S0048577201393198
22.
HambergerL. K.LohrJ. M.BongeD.TolinD. F. (1997). An empirical classification of motivations for domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 3, 401–423. doi:10.1177/10778012970030004005
23.
HartupW. W.StevensN. (1997). Friendships and adaptation in the life course. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 355–370. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.355
HindujaS.PatchinJ. W. (2008). Cyberbullying: An exploratory analysis of factors related to offending and victimization. Deviant Behavior, 29, 129–156. doi:10.1080/01639620701457816
26.
HindujaS.PatchinJ. W. (2009). Bullying beyond the schoolyard: Preventing and responding to cyberbullying. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
27.
HindujaS.PatchinJ. W. (2010). Bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide. Archives of Suicide Research, 14, 206–221. doi:10.1080/13811118.2010.494133
28.
JourilesE. N.McDonaldR.MuellerV.GrychJ. H. (2012). Youth experiences of family violence and teen dating violence perpetration: Cognitive and emotional mediators. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 15, 58–68. doi:10.1007/s10567-011-0102-7
29.
KaufmanJ.ZiglerE. (1987). Do abused children become abusive parents?American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 186–192. doi:10.1007/s10567-011-0102-7
30.
KinsfogelK. M.GrychJ. H. (2004). Interparental conflict and adolescent dating relationships: Integrating cognitive, emotional, and peer influences. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 505–515. doi:10.103/0893-3200.18.3.505
31.
KiriakidisS. P.KavouraA., (2010). Cyberbullying: A review of the literature on harassment through the internet and other electronic means. Family and Community Health, 33, 82–93. doi:10.1097/FCH.0b013e3181d593e4
32.
LansfordJ. E.CrissM. M.PettitG. S.DodgeK. A.BatesJ. E. (2003). Friendship quality, peer group affiliation, and peer antisocial behavior as moderators of the link between negative parenting and adolescent externalizing behavior. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13, 161–184. doi:10.1111/1532-7795.1302002
33.
LaurentH.PowersS. (2007). Emotion regulation in emerging adult couples: Temperament, attachment, and HPA response to conflict. Biological Psychology, 76, 61–71.
34.
LinderJ. R.CollinsW. A. (2005). Parent and peer predictors of physical aggression and conflict management in romantic relationships in early adulthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 252–262. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.19.2.252
35.
Padilla-WalkerL. M.NelsonL. J.CarrollJ. S.JensenA. C. (2010). More than just a game: Video game and internet use during emerging adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 103–113. doi:10.1007/s10964-008-9390-8
36.
PearsK. C.CapaldiD. M. (2001). Intergenerational transmission of abuse: A two-generational prospective study of an at-risk sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25, 1439–1461. doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(01)00286-1
37.
PronkR. E., & Zimmer-Gembeck. (2010). It’s “Mean,” but what does it mean to adolescents? Relational aggression described by victims, aggressors, and their peers. Journal of Adolescent Research, 25, 175–204. doi:10.1177/0743558409350504
38.
RaskauskasJ.StolzA. D. (2007). Involvement in traditional and electronic bullying among adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 43, 564–575. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.43.3.564
39.
RepettiR. L.TaylorS. E.SeemanT. E. (2002). Risky families: Family social environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 330–366. doi:10.1037//0033-2909.128.2.330
40.
SchwartzD.DodgeK. A.PettitG. S.BatesJ. E., & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2000). Friendship as a moderating factor in the pathway between early harsh home environment and later victimization in the peer group. Developmental Psychology, 36, 646–662. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.36.5.646
41.
SearsH. A.ByersE. S.WhelanJ. J.Saint-PierreM. (2006). If it hurts you, then it is not a joke. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 1191–1207. doi:10.1177/0886260506290423
42.
SerbinL. A.KarpJ. (2004). The intergenerational transfer of psychosocial risk: Mediators of vulnerability and resilience. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 333–363. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145228
43.
ShieldsA.CicchettiD. (1997). Emotion regulation among school-age children: The development and validation of a new criterion Q-sort scale. Developmental Psychology, 33, 906–916. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.33.6.903
44.
ShiffmanS.StoneA. A.HuffordM. R. (2008). Ecological momentary assessment. The Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 4, 1–32. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.3.022806.091415
SmithC. A.IrelandT. O.ParkA.ElwynL.ThornberryT. P. (2011). Intergenerational continuities and discontinuities in intimate partner violence: A two-generational prospective study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 3720–3752. doi:10.1177/0886260511403751
47.
SmithK. S.MahdaviJ.CarvalhoM.FisherS.RussellS.TippettN. (2008). Cyberbullying: Its nature and impact on secondary school pupils. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 376–386. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01846.x
48.
StrausM. A. (2008). Dominance and symmetry in partner violence by male and female university students in 32 nations. Child and Youth Services Review, 30, 252–275. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.10.004
49.
SubrahmanyamK.ReichS. M.WaechterN.EspinozaG. (2008). Online and offline social networks: Use of social networking sites by emerging adults. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 420–433. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.003
50.
TaylorS. E.LernerJ. S.SageR. M.LehmanB. J.SeemanT. E. (2004). Early environment, emotions, responses to stress. Journal of Personality, 72, 1365–1393. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00300.x
51.
TokunagaR. S. (2010). Following you home from school: A critical review and synthesis of research on cyberbullying victimization. Computers in Human Behavior, 26, 277–287. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2009.11.014
52.
UnderwoodM. K.RosenL. H.MoreD.EhrenreichS. E.GentschJ. K. (2012). The BlackBerry project: Capturing the content of adolescents’ text messaging. Developmental Psychology, 48, 295–302. doi:10.1037/a0025914
53.
ValkenburgP. M.PeterJ. M. (2010). Online communication among adolescents: An integrated model of its attraction, opportunities, and risks. Journal of Adolescent Health, 48, 121–127. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.08.020
54.
WidomC. S. (1989). Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 3–28. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.106.1.3
55.
WilliamsK. R.GuerraN. G. (2007). Prevalence and predictors of internet bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 14–21. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.018
56.
WolakJ.MitchellK. J.FinkelhorD. (2007). Does online harassment constitute bullying? An exploration of online harassment by known peers and online-only contacts. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 51–58. doi:10.1016/j.adohealth.2007.08.019
57.
YbarraM. L. (2004). Linkages between depressive symptomatology and internet harassment among young regular internet users. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 7, 247–257. doi:10.1089/109493104323024500
58.
YbarraM. L.Diener-WestM.LeafP. J. (2007). Examining the overlap in internet harassment and school bullying: Implications for school intervention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 42–50. doi:10.1016/j.adohealth.2007.09.004
59.
YbarraM. L.MitchellK. J. (2004). Youth engaging in online harassment: Associations with caregiver-child relationships, internet use, and personal characteristics. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 319–336. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.03.007
