Cyberbullying in the university setting. Relationship with family environment and emotional intelligence

Abstract

Currently, the enormous quantity of research on cyberbullying during adolescence contrasts with those studies carried out in the university environment. The objective of this study was to analyze the predictive capacity of family environment and emotional intelligence with regard to cyberbullying in university students. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, the Social Climate in the Family Scale and the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 were administered to a sample of 1282 university students (594 men and 688 women) between the ages of 18 and 46 (M = 21.65; DT = 4.25). The results revealed that a deteriorated family environment increases the probability of being both a victim and an aggressor of cyberbullying, whereas a favorable family environment decreases this probability. Likewise, the dimensions of emotional intelligence were predictive variables of participation as victims or aggressors of cyberbullying. The conclusions of this study are of special relevance given that they do not only bring about a problem that has a little knowledge of the university setting, but because they also note that intervention programs should consider the influence of the family environment during the early adulthood period, as well as the relevance of emotional level of these university students.