Associations Among Cyberbullying Victimization, Inhibitory Control, Neural Activation of Error Processing, and Mental Health Problems in Adolescents: Neuroimaging, Retrospective Longitudinal Cohort Study Using the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Data.

Cyberbullying victimization at 2-year follow-up was significantly associated with greater externalizing problems at 4-year follow-up.

• β=0.25, 95% CI 0.06-0.45, PFDR=.02
• Sample included 551/1186 (46.5%) girls aged 9-10 years at baseline from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study
• Linear mixed models were used to examine retrospective longitudinal associations
• The ABCD study is a nationally representative cohort established through school-based probability sampling with selected factors including gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity

Cyberbullying victimization at 2-year follow-up was not significantly associated with internalizing problems at 4-year follow-up.

• β=-0.01, 95% CI -0.20 to 0.19, PFDR=.99
• Mental health problems were assessed using the Child Behavioral Checklist for externalizing and internalizing problems
• Assessments were conducted at 2-year (T1) and 4-year (T2) follow-up

Cyberbullying victimization at 2-year follow-up was not significantly associated with deficits in inhibitory control at 4-year follow-up.

• Correct Stop Rate: β=-0.02, 95% CI -0.26 to 0.21, PFDR=.85
• Stop Signal Reaction Time: β=-0.07, 95% CI -0.27 to 0.13, PFDR=.85
• Inhibitory control was assessed using the functional MRI stop signal task

Cyberbullying victimization at 2-year follow-up was associated with significantly higher neural activation in bilateral superior parietal gyri during error processing at 4-year follow-up.

• Left superior parietal gyrus: β=0.36, 95% CI 0.10-0.61, PFDR=.04
• Right superior parietal gyrus: β=0.34, 95% CI 0.08-0.59, PFDR=.04
• Neural activation was measured using functional MRI during the stop signal task

Cyberbullying victimization at 2-year follow-up was associated with significantly higher activation in the right inferior parietal gyrus and right posterior cingulate cortex during error processing at 4-year follow-up.

• Right inferior parietal gyrus: β=0.32, 95% CI 0.07-0.57, PFDR=.04
• Right posterior cingulate cortex: β=0.34, 95% CI 0.09-0.60, PFDR=.04
• Both findings were statistically significant after FDR correction

The neural alterations in error processing associated with cyberbullying victimization did not significantly mediate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and externalizing problems.

• Mediation analyses were conducted to test whether neural activation changes in the identified brain regions mediated the path from cyberbullying victimization at T1 to externalizing problems at T2
• The nonsignificant mediation suggests these neural impacts may be better characterized by 'a state of heightened sensitivity and compensatory engagement than by direct damage'
• The pattern of findings was observed despite significant direct associations between cyberbullying victimization and both neural activation and externalizing problems