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Cyberbullying perpetration in the COVID-19 era: An application of general strain theory

ABSTRACT The world is currently grappling with the medical, psychological, economic, and behavioral consequences of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The existing research has rightly been focused on the medical contributions – treatment, symptoms, prevalence, etc. – which are paramount. A paucity of research has tested the psychological and behavioral consequences of COVID-19. In two cross-sectional studies of US adults, we posited that personal (e.g., being diagnosed with COVID-19) and proximal (e.g., knowing people with COVID-19) experiences with COVID-19 would be related to cyberbullying perpetration due to an increase in stress. Using path modeling, results showed that (a) personal and proximal COVID-19 experiences positively correlated with cyberbullying (Studies 1 and 2) and (b) personal COVID-19 experiences were indirectly related to cyberbullying through stress, but not proximal experiences (Study 2).