Behind Every Notification: The Mediating Role of Social Media Addiction in Cyber Victimization and Suicide Ideation Among First Year College Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22940562Keywords:
Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Social Media Addiction, Cyber Victimization, Suicide Ideation, College StudentsAbstract
Social media among first year college students can offer positive and negative effects. Such social media now shed lights to various opportunity to earn online and increase the society’s digital knowledge. Hence, different contents are available through social media, and this does not limit to sensitive contents that can trigger trauma and bad experience. Also, constant use of social media may affect students’ self-esteem due to constant comparing to others and being isolated to the real world. This may contribute to the increase vulnerability of college students to mental health difficulty that may also contribute to suicide ideation. Findings revealed that first year college students within Metro Manila demonstrated moderate to high levels of social media addiction and cyber victimization. Also, most of the students have high levels of suicide ideation. There is a significant positive correlation (r=0.623, p<.01) between the students’ levels of cyber victimization and suicide ideation. While, there is also a significant indirect effect (Estimate = 1.196, p < .001) between the students’ levels of cyber victimization and suicide ideation. The students’ levels of cyber victimization significantly increases their levels of suicide ideation through social media addiction. Hence, cyber victimization does not directly predict suicide ideation (Estimate = 0.455, p = .203). It is recommended to further study various factors that may contribute to suicide ideation and to use other research methods such as qualitative and longitudinal study.
Downloads
References
Barlett, C. P., & Gentile, D. A. (2012). Attacking others online: The formation of cyberbullying in late adolescence. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2287–2294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.06.021
Bounthavong, M. (2024, June 23). Mediation analysis using R. https://mbounthavong.com/blog/2024/6/23/mediation-analysis-using-r
Cai, F., Wang, Y., & Jin, S. (2026). The impact of social media addiction on college students’ mental health through social support and resilience. Scientific Reports, 16, Article 5087. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35779-w
Cao, Z., Lu, L., Li, Z.-W., Lai, S., Zhou, Z., Shen, Q., & Liu, S. (2025). A cross-sectional study of individual- and poly-bullying victimization and suicidal ideation among Chinese university and high school students: The roles of hopelessness and interpersonal relationships. International Journal for Equity in Health, 24, Article 117. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02472-9
Chu, X., Yang, S., Sun, Z., Jiang, M., & Xie, R. (2022). The association between cyberbullying victimization and suicidal ideation among Chinese college students: The parallel mediating roles of core self-evaluation and depression. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, Article 929679. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.929679
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
David, D., & Sava, F. A. (2015). Designs for studying mediation. In R. L. Cautin & S. O. Lilienfeld (Eds.), The encyclopedia of clinical psychology (pp. 1–9). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118625392.wbecp516
Dhir, A., Yossatorn, Y., Kaur, P., & Chen, S. (2018). Online social media fatigue and psychological wellbeing—A study of compulsive use, fear of missing out, fatigue, anxiety and depression. International Journal of Information Management, 40, 141–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.01.012
Elsayed, H. A. E. (2025). Fear of missing out and its impact: Exploring relationships with social media use, psychological well-being, and academic performance among university students. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1582572. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1582572
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A.-G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149
Harris, K., Haddock, G., Peters, S., & Gooding, P. (2021). Psychometric properties of the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS) in a longitudinal sample of people experiencing non-affective psychosis. BMC Psychiatry, 21, Article 628. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03639-8
Hassan, M. (2024, April 23). Purposive sampling—Definition, types, and examples. Research Method. https://researchmethod.net/purposive-sampling/
Howe, S. (2026, March 30). Social media statistics in the Philippines [Updated 2026]. Meltwater. https://www.meltwater.com/en/blog/social-media-statistics-philippines
Kang, M., Xu, B., Chen, C., & Wang, D. (2023). Internet addiction and suicidal ideation among Chinese college students: The mediating role of psychotic-like experiences. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, Article 1276496. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1276496
Keles, B., McCrae, N., & Grealish, A. (2020). A systematic review: The influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 79–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851
Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2011). Online social networking and addiction—A review of the psychological literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(9), 3528–3552. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8093528
Lee, J., Abell, N., & Holmes, J. L. (2017). Validation of measures of cyberbullying perpetration and victimization in emerging adulthood. Research on Social Work Practice, 27(4), 456–467. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731515578535
Li, W. (2020). The language of bullying: Social issues on Chinese websites. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 54, Article 101453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101453
Luceño-Moreno, L., Vázquez-Estévez, D., Martín-García, J., & Talavera-Velasco, B. (2025). Factors associated with suicidal ideation in college students of health sciences. Depression and Anxiety, 2025, Article 4397417. https://doi.org/10.1155/da/4397417
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., & Williams, J. (2004). Confidence limits for the indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39(1), 99–128. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3901_4
Marchant, A., Hawton, K., Stewart, A., Montgomery, P., Singaravelu, V., Lloyd, K., Purdy, N., Daine, K., & John, A. (2017). A systematic review of the relationship between internet use, self-harm and suicidal behaviour in young people: The good, the bad and the unknown. PLoS ONE, 12(8), Article e0181722. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181722
Mitchell, S. M., Seegan, P. L., Roush, J. F., Brown, S. L., Sustaíta, M. A., & Cukrowicz, K. C. (2018). Retrospective cyberbullying and suicide ideation: The mediating roles of depressive symptoms, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belongingness. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(16), 2602–2620. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516628291
Nesi, J. (2020). The impact of social media on youth mental health: Challenges and opportunities. North Carolina Medical Journal, 81(2), 116–121. https://doi.org/10.18043/ncm.81.2.116
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879
Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., Lin, L. Y., Rosen, D., Colditz, J. B., Radovic, A., & Miller, E. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010
Respicio & Co. (2025). Social media users in the Philippines. https://www.respicio.ph/
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Sargent, K. S., Krauss, A., Jouriles, E. N., & McDonald, R. (2016). Cyber victimization, psychological intimate partner violence, and problematic mental health outcomes among first-year college students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(9), 545–550. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0115
Sigales, J. (2026, March 25). Suicide cases in NCR more than double in first 3 months of 2026—NCRPO. INQUIRER.net. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2201073/suicide-cases-in-ncr-more-than-double-in-first-3-months-of-2026-ncrpo
Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7(4), 422–445. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.4.422
Torun, G., Akgenç, F., & Can Öz, Y. (2026). The mediating effect of cyber victimization and cyberbullying on the relationship between social media addiction and emotional and psychological well-being in adolescents. BMC Psychology, 14, Article 355. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-04148-7
Tutgun-Ünal, A., & Deniz, L. (2015). Development of the Social Media Addiction Scale. AJIT-e: Online Academic Journal of Information Technology, 6(21), 51–70. https://doi.org/10.5824/1309-1581.2015.4.004.x
UNICEF. (2023). The state of the world's children 2023: For every child, vaccination. United Nations Children's Fund. https://www.unicef.org/reports/state-worlds-children-2023
Wang, Z., Xie, Q., Xin, M., Wei, C., Yu, C., Zhen, S., Liu, S., Wang, J., & Zhang, W. (2020). Cybervictimization, depression, and adolescent internet addiction: The moderating effect of prosocial peer affiliation. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 572486. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.572486
World Health Organization. (2025). Suicide. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
