Nursing in the digital age: The role of nursing in addressing cyberbullying and adolescents mental health.
What is known on the subject? The study's findings are crucial for mental health nursing, as they highlight the significant impact of cyberbullying on adolescents' mental health in Egypt. What this paper adds to existing knowledge? By establishing a clear link between cyberbullying, family income, and mental health issues such as anxiety, stress, and depression, the research underscores the need for targeted interventions and support systems. What are the implications for practice? Mental health nurses can utilize this information to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies, advocate for policy changes, and educate families and communities. Addressing cyberbullying and its effects can lead to improved mental health outcomes, demonstrating the critical role of mental health nursing in supporting affected adolescents.
WHAT DOES THIS RESEARCH ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE OF CYBERBULLYING AMONG ADOLESCENTS?: This study brings attention to the widespread occurrence of cyberbullying among adolescents in Egypt and its substantial impact on their mental health. The research indicates that cyberbullying, along with family income, collectively explains more than 60% of the variation in mental health. These results underscore the importance of developing strategies to address cyberbullying and taking socioeconomic factors into account when addressing mental health issues in adolescents. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS NEW KNOWLEDGE FOR NURSING CARE WITH ADOLESCENTS?: School nurses should be knowledgeable about the prevalence and effects of cyberbullying on the mental well-being of teenagers. They need to be equipped to recognize signs of cyberbullying and associated mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, and stress. Educating adolescents, parents, and school staff about the dangers of cyberbullying and prevention methods is a crucial role that school nurses can play. This may involve teaching safe internet usage, promoting open communication about online experiences, and encouraging positive online behaviour. When evaluating mental health needs and planning care for adolescents, school nurses should consider their economic status. They should advocate for resources and assistance for low-income families to help alleviate the impact of financial stress on mental health. HOW COULD THE FINDINGS INFLUENCE POLICY, PRACTICE, RESEARCH, OR EDUCATION?: It is important to introduce policies that provide financial support to families with lower incomes, as the research has shown a strong connection between a family's monthly income and its members' mental well-being. Educational institutions, including schools, should introduce programs to prevent bullying, with a specific focus on cyberbullying. It would be beneficial for researchers to explore the effectiveness of various interventions in reducing cyberbullying and improving mental health outcomes. It is crucial to integrate education on cyberbullying into school curricula in order to raise awareness about this issue and to teach students how to respond if they or someone they know becomes a victim of cyberbullying. Educating parents and teachers about the indicators of cyberbullying and its potential impact on mental health is important so that they can offer support to adolescents who are experiencing cyberbullying. Further research is needed to address other covariates that could impact cyberbullying, such as addictive personality traits, impulsive seeking behaviours, and parenting styles.
BACKGROUND: Cyberbullying, a significant concern in today's digital age, has a profound impact on teenagers' mental health, leading to stress, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and, in severe cases, suicidal ideation. This study aimed to explore the effects of cyberbullying on adolescents' mental health.
The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive research design conducted at five public secondary schools in El-Beheira governorate, Egypt. A total of 500 students were selected through a multistage sampling technique, yielding a response rate of 96%. The instruments used for data collection were the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21.
The findings revealed that 27.4% and 32.0% of respondents reported high levels of victimization and cyberaggression, respectively. Furthermore, 72.2%, 44%, and 52.6% of students exhibited severe to extremely severe levels of anxiety, stress, and depression, respectively. The study also found that cyberbullying and family monthly income accounted for 61.6% of the variance in stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms (adjusted R2 = .614).
The study concludes that cyberbullying is a prevalent issue among adolescents in Egypt, with a majority of students experiencing moderate to high levels of cybervictimization and aggression. This leads to varying degrees of anxiety, stress, and depression. The study also established a significant relationship between cyberbullying and mental health issues among adolescents. Moreover, both cyberbullying and family monthly income were found to significantly influence mental health, with higher levels of cyberbullying and lower income associated with increased stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms.
No Patient or Public Contribution.
It is important for nurses working with adolescents to have an understanding of how common cyberbullying is and how it can affect mental health. They should receive training to be able to recognize signs of cyberbullying and mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, and stress. Nurses can teach adolescents, parents, and school staff about its dangers and ways to prevent cyberbullying. This may involve educating adolescents on safe internet practices, promoting open communication about online experiences, and encouraging positive online behaviour. Lastly, considering the strong connection between income and mental health, nurses should also take into account the socioeconomic status of adolescents when assessing their mental health needs and planning care. They should work to secure resources and support for low-income families to help alleviate the impact of financial stress on mental health. Additionally, further research is needed to address other covariates that could impact cyberbullying, such as addictive personality traits, impulsive seeking behaviours, and parenting styles.
Amin SM
,Mohamed MAE
,Metwally El-Sayed M
,El-Ashry AM
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Associations of vegetable and fruit intake, physical activity, and school bullying with depressive symptoms in secondary school students: the mediating role of internet addiction.
Few studies have simultaneously focused on the associations of vegetable and fruit intake, physical activity, school bullying, and Internet addiction (IA) with depressive symptoms. This study aimed to explore the direct and indirect effects of the above factors on depressive symptoms in adolescents by constructing a structural equation model (SEM).
This study was conducted in Qingdao from September to November 2021. A total of 6195 secondary school students aged 10-19 years were included in the analysis. Information on all variables was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. An SEM was constructed with depressive symptoms as the endogenous latent variable, IA as the mediating variable, and vegetable and fruit intake, physical activity, and school bullying as the exogenous latent variables. The standardized path coefficients (β) were the direct effects between the latent variables, and the indirect effects were obtained by the product of direct effects between relevant latent variables.
The median value with the interquartile range of depressive symptom scores was 7 (3,12). Vegetable and fruit intake (β=-0.100, P<0.001) and physical activity (β=-0.140, P<0.001) were directly negatively related to depressive symptoms. While school bullying (β=0.138, P<0.001) and IA (β=0.452, P<0.001) were directly positively related to depressive symptoms. IA had the greatest impact on depressive symptoms. Vegetable and fruit intake, physical activity, and school bullying could not only directly affect depressive symptoms, but also indirectly affect depressive symptoms through the mediating effect of IA, the indirect effects and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were -0.028 (-0.051, -0.007), -0.114 (-0.148, -0.089) and 0.095 (0.060, 0.157), respectively. The results of the multi-group analysis showed that the SEM we constructed still fit in boy and girl groups.
The results indicated that vegetable and fruit intake, physical activity, school bullying, and IA had a significant direct impact on depressive symptoms, among which IA had the greatest impact. In addition, both vegetable and fruit intake, school bullying, and physical activity indirectly affected depressive symptoms through the mediating effect of IA. The impact of IA on depressive symptoms should be given extra attention by schools and parents. This study provides a scientific and effective basis for the prevention and control of adolescent depressive symptoms.
Ji L
,Ren Z
,Chen J
,Zhao H
,Zhang X
,Xue B
,Zhang D
... -
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Secular Trends in Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents in Yunnan, Southwest China From Before COVID-19 to During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal, Observational Study.
Yunnan province borders Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam, giving it one of the longest borders in China. We aimed to determine the trends in prevalence and impact of COVID-19 on depressive symptoms among adolescents (12-18 years) from 2018 to 2022 in Yunnan, southwest China.
We evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on adolescents' mental health, with the aim of reducing the effect of psychological emergency syndrome and promoting healthy, happy adolescent growth.
This longitudinal, observational study used Students' Health Survey data on adolescents' depressive symptoms from 2018 to 2022 (before and during COVID-19) in Yunnan. We used multistage, stratified sampling in 3 prefectures in 2018 and 16 prefectures from 2019 to 2022. In each prefecture, the study population was classified by gender and residence (urban or rural), and each group was of equal size. Depressive symptoms were diagnosed based on Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores. We used ANOVA to assess the differences in mean CES-D scores stratified by gender, age, residence, grade, and ethnicity. Chi-square tests were used to compare depressive symptoms by different variables. For comparability, the age-standard and gender-standard population prevalences were calculated using the 2010 China Census as the standard population. The association between COVID-19 and the risk of a standardized prevalence of depressive symptoms was identified using unconditional logistic regression analysis.
The standardized prevalence of depressive symptoms for all participants was 32.98%: 28.26% in 2018, 30.89% in 2019, 29.81% in 2020, 28.77% in 2021, 36.33% in 2022. The prevalences were 30.49% before COVID-19,29.29% in early COVID-19, and 36.33% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared with before COVID-19, the risks of depressive symptoms were 0.793 (95% CI 0.772-0.814) times higher in early COVID-19 and 1.071 (95% CI 1.042-1.100) times higher than during COVID-19. The average annual increase in depressive symptoms was 1.61%. During the epidemic, the prevalence of depressive symptoms in girls (36.87%) was higher than that in boys (28.64%), and the acceleration rate of girls was faster than that of boys. The prevalences of depressive symptoms and acceleration rates by age group were as follows: 27.14% and 1.09% (12-13 years), 33.99% and 1.8% (14-15 years), 36.59% and 1.65% (16-18 years). Prevalences did not differ between Han (32.89%) and minority (33.10%) populations. However, the acceleration rate was faster for the former than for the latter. The rate for senior high school students was the highest (34.94%). However, the acceleration rate for vocational high school students was the fastest (2.88%), followed by that for junior high school students (2.32%). Rural residents (35.10%) had a higher prevalence and faster acceleration than urban residents (30.16%).
From 2018 to 2022, there was a significant, continuous increase in the prevalence of depressive symptoms among adolescents in Yunnan, China, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents an emergency public health problem that should be given more attention. Effective, comprehensive psychological and lifestyle intervention measures should be used to reduce the prevalence of mental health issues in adolescents.
Yang Y
,Zha S
,Li T
《JMIR Public Health and Surveillance》