Longitudinal associations among peer pressure, moral disengagement and cyberbullying perpetration in adolescents

Peer pressure is considered one of the top reasons adolescents participate in various risk behaviors, but the mechanism of peer pressure and adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration is unclear. The current study examined the longitudinal associations between peer pressure and adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration across three years, taking into account moral disengagement as a potential mediator and family socioeconomic status and gender as moderators of the associations. A sample of 2407 Chinese adolescents (Mage at baseline = 12.75 years) completed measurements of peer pressure, cyberbullying perpetration, moral disengagement, and family socioeconomic status at 3-time points with 1-year intervals. The results showed that peer pressure directly predicted subsequent cyberbullying perpetration. Cyberbullying perpetration at time 1 significantly predicted peer pressure and moral disengagement at time 2 only. Moral disengagement played a mediating role between peer pressure and cyberbullying perpetration across time. The relation between peer pressure and moral disengagement was more robust for adolescents with low family socioeconomic status than those with high family socioeconomic status. Compared to boys, girls who experienced high peer pressure at previous time points were more likely to have high peer pressure at subsequent time points. These findings provide a new scientific basis for the intervention of adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration.