THE MODERATING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CYBER VICTIMIZATION AND ANXIETY IN SWEDISH YOUTH

Abstract: Cyber victimization is a new phenomenon that keeps increasing with every year, and although the interest in research has grown, little is still known about ways to minimize the outcomes of cyber victimization on mental health. This thesis aimed to investigate whether psychological flexibility could act as a moderator on the relationship between cyber victimization and trait anxiety in Swedish youth. Gender was used as a control variable. Participants were recruited on Facebook, and data was collected via an online questionnaire that contained gender, age, Adolescent Cyber-Victimization Scale, Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth, and Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children. The sample consisted of 102 Swedish youths (females, N = 74, males, N = 28) aged 16 to 25 years (M = 20.34, SD = 2.88). A multiple linear regression showed that psychological flexibility and cyber victimization significantly predicted anxiety. The results for psychological flexibility as a moderator on the relationship between cyber victimization and anxiety, and for gender as a predictor for anxiety, were non-significant. The results provide a deeper understanding of the role of psychological flexibility in mental health in youth, but further research is needed on psychological flexibility as a moderator. Future research should focus on more clinical groups with increased sample size and add a wider gender perspective.