Cyberbullying among high school students: digital literacy as a protective factor?

The present research examined cyberbullying among Vietnamese high school students and its connection with their digital literacy. The cross-sectional study involved 518 students in the 10th, 11th and 12 grades from six public high schools. Students’ cyberbullying was assessed in two dimensions of cyber-victimization and cyber-aggression, while their digital literacy was estimated in four aspects: digital technology, digital cognition, social-emotional, and digital security. The findings revealed that within 6 months, out of 518 surveyed students, 392 (75.67%) reported experiencing at least one aspect of cyberbullying as victims, while 250 students (48.26%) were involved in at least one aspect of cyberbullying as aggressors. The most common types of cyberbullying involved sending texts or online messages containing hurtful contents. Results demonstrated that cyber-victimization was significantly higher than cyber-aggression. Although the younger group showed higher cyberbullying scores, the differences were not statistically significant. Female students reported higher cyber-victimization scores, while males reported higher cyber-aggression scores, but these differences were also nonsignificant. There was an inverse correlation between cyberbullying and digital proficiency, particularly evident in the domains of digital cognition and digital security. Furthermore, latent profile analysis suggested that for students who were estimated with higher digital literacy, the link to cyberbullying was unclear, while for those with lower digital literacy, there was a statistically significant negative relationship. The study discussed implications for reducing cyberbullying by enhancing digital cognition and security.