The impact of cyberbullying victimization on social anxiety among college students: the chain mediating roles of fear of negative evaluation and rumination.

OBJECTIVE: Based on the Clark and Wells cognitive model of social anxiety, this study constructed a chain mediation model to explore the potential mechanisms underlying the association between cyberbullying victimization and social anxiety among college students. METHODS: A total of 3,710 college students were surveyed with the Cyberbullying Victimization Scale, the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, the Ruminative Responses Scale, and the Interaction Anxiousness Scale; after data screening, 3,625 valid responses were analyzed. RESULTS: (1) Significant positive correlations were found among all pairwise combinations of cyberbullying victimization, fear of negative evaluation, rumination, and social anxiety. (2) Cyberbullying victimization significantly and positively predicted social anxiety among college students. (3) In the process by which cyberbullying victimization predicts social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation and rumination not only served as independent mediators but also jointly constituted a chain mediation pathway. CONCLUSION: Cyberbullying victimization predicted social anxiety among college students both directly and indirectly through the chain mediating pathway of fear of negative evaluation and rumination.