Constructing the cyberbullying coping scale for adolescents and young adults: psychometric properties and well-being correlates

Overview

This study describes the development and validation of a multidimensional Cyberbullying Coping Scale designed to assess coping strategies among adolescents and young adults. The research was motivated by the need for a psychometrically sound instrument capable of capturing the complexity of coping responses to cyberbullying across cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, and digital dimensions. The scale's construction and validation were coupled with examination of its associations with psychological flourishing and digital well-being outcomes.

Methods and approach

A two-stage design with independent samples was implemented to ensure robust validation. The exploratory phase involved 789 participants (507 high school, 282 university students) who completed exploratory factor analysis to identify underlying factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis was subsequently conducted on an independent sample of 1,153 participants (706 high school, 447 university students) to verify the factorial model. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficients across the overall scale and subscales. Associations between identified coping dimensions and well-being outcomes were quantified through Pearson correlation analyses.

Key Findings

The exploratory and confirmatory analyses supported a six-factor coping structure: seeking social support, reactive/risky behaviours, preventive digital awareness, social and moral engagement, cognitive reappraisal, and emotional regulation. The overall scale exhibited high internal consistency (α > .85), with subscale reliability coefficients ranging from .54 to .82. Adaptive coping strategies demonstrated positive associations with both flourishing and digital well-being. Reactive/risky coping strategies showed negative association with digital well-being but exhibited unexpected positive association with flourishing, which the authors note may reflect transient perceptions of empowerment rather than substantive adaptive outcomes. Goodness-of-fit indices indicated the six-factor model achieved acceptable to good fit across standard indices.

Implications

The validated Cyberbullying Coping Scale provides a multidimensional assessment tool for researchers and practitioners examining how adolescents and young adults respond to cyberbullying experiences. The instrument's psychometric properties support its utility in research contexts examining coping mechanisms and their relationship to digital and psychological well-being. The scale's six-factor structure reflects the multifaceted nature of cyberbullying coping, integrating behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions relevant to contemporary digital environments.