Social-ecological correlates of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration among African American youth: Negative binomial and zero-inflated negative binomial analyses

Due to the technical advancement and popularity of social media in adolescent lives, there is a growing social and policy concern about cyberbullying and victimization. However, research about cyberbullying victimization and perpetration among African American youth is limited. The current study focuses on a nationally representative sample of 2560 African American youths. Data were drawn from the 2009–2010 Health Behavior in School-aged Children, negative binomial and zero-inflated negative binomial analyses were incorporated, and the social-ecological approach was applied to examine the correlates of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration among African Americans. Results revealed that fathers' monitoring and unstructured activities with peers had a significant effect on the probability of being cyberbullied or engaging in cyberbullying in both analyses. Also, youth who talked more about their problems with friends were less likely to be cyberbullied. Further, youth who spent less time using computers had an significanlty lower likelihood of engaging in cyberbullying. The significance and implications of the social-ecological approach for African American youth cyberbullying perpetration and victimization are also discussed.