Juan Jing, Jiaming Luo, Xin Hou, Yuxian Yan
Background This study amid to explore the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression among adolescents in a western city of China. And verify the mediating role of self-control and Internet gaming addiction and the moderating role of meaning in life. Methods A total of 8,209 adolescents were recruited through random sampling and cluster random sampling. Analyze the correlations among cyberbullying perpetration, self-control, Internet gaming addiction, meaning in life and depression. Mediation analyses were conducted to assess direct and indirect effects of cyberbullying perpetration on depression via self-control and Internet gaming addiction. Moderation analysis examined the direction of the moderating effect of meaning in life on the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and self-control. Results (1) There was a significant correlation between cyberbullying perpetration, self-control, Internet gaming addiction, meaning in life and depression. (2) Self-control and Internet gaming addiction played a significant partial mediating role in the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression. The mediating effect consists of three indirect effects: Cyberbullying perpetration → self-control → depression (the mediating effect value is 0.159, p < 0.001), Cyberbullying perpetration → Internet gaming addiction → depression (the mediating effect value is 0.18, p < 0.001), and Cyberbullying perpetration → self-control → Internet gaming addiction → depression (the mediating effect value is 0.029, p < 0.001). (3) The interaction between cyberbullying perpetration and self-control was significant ( β = −0.023, 95%CI −0.03 to −0.015, p < 0.01). Meaning in life plays a moderating role between cyberbullying perpetration and self-control. The stronger the meaning in life, the more obvious the negative effect of cyberbullying perpetration on self-control. Conclusion (1) The research results indicate that cyberbullying perpetration is associated with higher symptoms of depression in adolescents. This association can occur directly or indirectly through reduced self-control and increased addiction to Internet gaming. (2) Adolescents with a stronger sense of meaning in life show a more pronounced decline in self-control after engaging in cyberbullying.