Peer relations and different functions of cyber-aggression: A longitudinal study in Chinese adolescents

Although previous studies have focused on the associations between peer group relations and cyber-aggression, limited attention has been paid to the heterogeneity in the functions of cyber-aggression. This study explored the unique associations of peer relations with proactive and reactive cyber-aggression and the possible mechanisms underlying them in a sample of adolescents using a longitudinal study design. A total of 829 middle school students completed the Cyber-rage and Cyber-reward Aggression Subscales of the Cyber-Aggression Typology Questionnaire, the Peer Relations Scale, the Social Information Processing-Attributional Bias Questionnaire, and the Self-efficacy for Aggression Scale twice at a 6-month interval. Multiple mediation analyses and bootstrapping were conducted using the Mplus 8 software. The results indicated that satisfying peer relations were negatively correlated with reactive cyber-aggression and positively associated with proactive cyber-aggression. Moreover, hostile intent attribution and self-efficacy for aggression mediated the associations between peer relations and both functions of cyber-aggression, however, in different ways. Unsatisfying peer relations were associated with higher levels of hostile intent attribution and lower levels of self-efficacy for aggression and predicted increases in reactive cyber-aggression. In contrast, satisfying peer relations were associated with lower levels of hostile intent attribution and higher levels of self-efficacy for aggression and predicted increases in proactive cyber-aggression. The findings indicated that different functions of cyber-aggression might be related to different mediation mechanisms, which sheds light on the prevention of cyber-aggression in the future.