The Reciprocal Longitudinal Associations Between Short-Form Video Addiction and Cyberbullying Perpetration Among Vocational School Students

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated the prevalence of short-form video addiction and cyberbullying perpetration among adolescents. Nevertheless, longitudinal evidence clarifying the directional associations between the two behaviors, particularly whether such associations reflect within-person processes, remains limited. Therefore, this study examined the reciprocal longitudinal associations between short-form video addiction and cyberbullying perpetration using a three-wave random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) with 6-month intervals, in a sample of 1,439 vocational school students ( M age = 17.42 years, SD = 3.94). The results revealed significant positive between-person associations, indicating that students reporting elevated short-form video addiction engaged in more cyberbullying perpetration. The within-person effect from cyberbullying perpetration to short-form video addiction remained significant across all time intervals, whereas the within-person effect from short-form video addiction to cyberbullying perpetration was only significant in the later interval. These findings suggest that the longitudinal association between short-form video addiction and cyberbullying perpetration involves both stable between-person differences and dynamic within-person processes. This study advances understanding of the dynamic interplay between short-form video addiction and cyberbullying perpetration among vocational school students and underscores the importance of considering both between-person and within-person processes in research on adolescent digital behaviors.