Indirect Path from Cyberbullying to Suicide Attempts: Hopelessness as a Central Bridge in a Risk Behavior Network

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Network Science

Background:

• Cyberbullying is a growing concern in adolescent mental health.
• Its role within a network of co-occurring risks is not well understood.
• The Three-Step Theory of suicide provides a framework for understanding risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cyberbullying's position within a network of adolescent risks.
• To examine the indirect influence of cyberbullying on suicidality through hopelessness.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an Ising model network analysis.
• Analyzed data from 9621 U.S. high school students (2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey).
• Included cyberbullying victimization and 13 other risk behaviors.

Main Results:

• Hopelessness emerged as the most central node and strongest bridge in the network.
• The direct path from cyberbullying to suicide attempts was shorter than the indirect path via hopelessness.
• Removing hopelessness significantly weakened the link between cyberbullying and other risks.

Conclusions:

• Hopelessness is a critical bridging node connecting mental health and other risk behaviors in adolescents.
• Findings highlight the importance of addressing hopelessness in interventions for cyberbullying.
• The study provides a network perspective on adolescent suicidality.