The Impact of Cyberbullying and Social Bullying on Optimism, Global and School-Related Happiness and Life Satisfaction Among 10-12-year-old Schoolchildren

Previous research has indicated that victims and perpetrators of bullying are vulnerable to poorer psychological well-being. In this study, we examined whether the roles of victim and perpetrator in cyberbullying and social bullying are related to guarded optimism, global and school-related happiness and specific domains of life satisfaction as indicators of subjective well-being. The relations between these variables were then examined with a sample of Spanish 10-12-year-old schoolchildren (n = 1058). Cyberbullying and social bullying negatively correlated with indicators of subjective well-being. After controlling for gender and grade, multiple regression analyses confirmed these findings, except that cyberbullying perpetration had no predictive value on school-related happiness and specific domains of satisfaction with life. These findings suggest that cyberbullying and social bullying victims, and also social bullying perpetrators, report less subjective well-being than uninvolved children. However, cyberbullying perpetration is associated with guarded optimism and global happiness, but not with less school-related happiness and life satisfaction domains. Implications for prevention and intervention programs are examined.