Individual-Level Cyber-Risk Indicators and Patterns of Cyberbullying Involvement Among Korean Adolescents

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Although cyberbullying among adolescents has been widely studied, relatively little attention has been paid to the overlapping roles through which cyberbullying is experienced. This study reconceptualizes cyberbullying involvement by classifying perpetration, victimization, and witnessing into eight mutually exclusive involvement types, enabling systematic and non-overlapping comparison of adolescents' experiences. The study further examines how engagement in individual-level cyber-risk indicators is associated with different patterns of cyberbullying involvement. Methods: The study analyzed nationally representative data from the 2022 Cyberbullying Survey conducted by the Korea National Information Society Agency, including 9693 students from elementary, middle, and high schools across South Korea. Individual-level cyber-risk indicators were assessed through multiple dimensions, including risky online behaviors, intensity of digital activity, peer environments, and awareness of harmful online behaviors. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between individual-level cyber-risk indicators and the eight types of cyberbullying involvement. Results: Engagement in individual-level cyber-risk indicators was associated with increased odds of involvement in at least one cyberbullying type. Risky online behaviors and exposure to peers engaging in cyberbullying were linked to higher likelihood of both single and overlapping involvement patterns, whereas greater acceptance of harmful online behaviors was consistently associated with lower odds of victimization. Conclusions: These findings underscore cyberbullying as a relational and context-dependent phenomenon shaped by everyday digital practices and peer norms rather than isolated individual behavior. From a school social work perspective, the results support preventive, environment-focused interventions, including school-based media literacy education and institutionalized cyberbullying response systems, as promising strategies for reducing cyberbullying involvement among adolescents.