CYBER dating violence: Relationship with emotional dependence and Self-Esteem

The aim of this research was to analyse the relationships between cyber-violence, cyber-victimisation and the two variables under study: emotional dependence and self-esteem. For this purpose, a convenience sample of 985 students was selected. The participants completed the “Partner Violence in Social Networks in Adolescents Scale”, the “Emotional Dependence in Youth and Adolescent Dating” questionnaire and the “Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale”. Differences were found between victims of cyber-violence and those who had not been victims in all dimensions of emotional dependence, with higher values of dependence in victims and the same occurred in the case of aggressors. In relation to self-esteem, both victims of cyber-violence and perpetrators scored lower on self-esteem. These results indicate that emotional dependence and low self-esteem may be relevant factors in understanding the perpetrated and suffered cyber-violence, and should be taken into account for prevention and intervention.