Citation: Palermiti, A.L.; Bartolo, M.G.; Servidio, R.; Costabile, A. Cybervictimisation and Well-Being during the Outbreak of COVID-19: The Mediating Role of Depression. Healthcare 2022, 10, 1627. https:// doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10091627 Academic Editor: Axel Steiger Received: 26 July 2022 Accepted: 23 August 2022 Published: 26 August 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). healthcare Article Cybervictimisation and Well-Being during the Outbreak of COVID-19: The Mediating Role of Depression Anna Lisa Palermiti *, Maria Giuseppina Bartolo , Rocco Servidio and Angela Costabile Department of Cultures, Education and Society, University of Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Italy * Correspondence: annalisa.palermiti@unical.it Abstract: Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to modifying relational habits and increasing Internet use to engage in antisocial behaviours such as cybervictimisation. Additionally, social distancing can reinforce the relationship with internalising behaviours such as depression. Through an adolescent sample, this study examines the relationship between cyber- victimisation and well-being and the mediating role of depression. The hypothesis was tested via Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis to verify the role of depression as a mediator between cybervictimisation and well-being. The main results reveal that the effect of cybervictimisation on well-being was fully mediated by depression. The findings should stimulate debate on possible interventions to promote adolescent well-being and to avoid emotional and mental health problems related to social isolation. Keywords: COVID-19; cybervictimisation; depression; well-being 1. Introduction Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected people worldwide not only in terms of their health but also on a psychological level. During the pandemic, one of the most significant forms of intervention to reduce the transmission of the virus has been the closing of schools and home confinement. However, the COVID-19 pandemic left many children and teens feeling lonely: often, their only social activities and relationships were online. Being isolated from friends, educators, colleagues, and mentors made them more prone to losing confidence and motivation. In addition, these social situations and factors may have led adolescents to become perpetrators or victims of cyberbullying [1], as during the COVID-19 pandemic, people spent more time online and used Internet technologies, such as social media applications, to communicate with others [2]. Combined with social isolation, these aspects may bring a range of psychological harms [3] and may negatively affect the physical and mental health and well-being of children [4,5]. Cybervictimisation—that is, victimisation experiences that occur through digital media—is a widely studied phenomenon [6–8]. It is defined as any aggressive online behaviour that inflicts harm or discomfort on victims through aggressive messages or acts via digital devices with Internet access [9–11]. This phenomenon is characterised by asynchronicity and anonymity, which stimulate disinhibited behaviours and conceal the identities of cyberbullies from their victims through tools such as e-mails, texting, instant messaging [12,13], and social networking (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) [14,15]. Cybervictimisation attracts a great deal of interest from educators, parents, researchers, and the general public, as it correlates with social functioning, behavioural problems, and psychological health [16–18]. Indeed, different studies evidence that cybervictimisation is significantly associated with loneliness or social isolation, negative self-cognition [19–21], negative social comparison [22], low self-esteem [23,24], hopelessness [25], maladaptive emotion regulation [22], sleeping difficulties [26], and distress [27], leading to serious consequences, particularly for the victims, including depression and anxiety [19,28–30]. Healthcare 2022, 10, 1627. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10091627 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcare