Cyber-control and cyber-aggression toward the partner in adolescent students: Prevalence and relationships with cyberbullying

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) offer new educational opportunities and are essential in students' social relationships. However, the use of these technologies can also have negative consequences. Adolescent students can use these technologies to control and attack their partner, which is similar to way some students use ICTs to attack their classmates. The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of various behaviors of cyber-control and cyber-aggression toward the partner in adolescent boys and girls and examine their relationships with cyberbullying. To do so, 594 adolescents (56.7% girls, 43.3% boys) from 12 to 17 years old who had a partner or had had one in the previous 12 months participated in this study. The results indicated a higher prevalence of cyber-control behaviors toward the partner (between 8.2% and 26.8%), compared to cyber-aggression behaviors such as insults, threats, or spreading malicious rumors (between 2% and 5.4%). The prevalence of cyber-control behaviors was similar in boys and girls, but some cyber-aggression behaviors showed a higher prevalence in boys. Adolescent boys and girls with frequent cyber-control and cyber-aggression behaviors toward their partner showed higher scores on cyberbullying perpetration, both direct and indirect. Nevertheless, direct cyberbullying was a better predictor of cyber-aggression toward the partner, and indirect cyberbullying was a better predictor of cyber-control toward the partner. These results show important relationships between cyberbullying and cyber dating violence in adolescent students, and they are useful for the development of prevention programs. Considering the relationships observed between the two types of problematic behaviors in adolescents, it would be advisable to implement programs for their joint prevention in educational contexts.