A SOLUTİON PROPOSAL ON SOCİAL MEDİA ADDİCTİON AND CYBERBULLYİNG AMONG HİGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: MEANİNG-FOCUSED PSYCHO-EDUCATİONAL GROUP PROGRAM

This study aimed to examine high school students’ attitudes toward social media use, personality traits, and self-esteem in relation to gender, age, grade level, and duration of social media use. The study was conducted within the scope of a scientific research project supported by Istanbul Gelisim University (Project No: SGA-2025-215). The sample consisted of 1,696 high school students enrolled in schools located in the Avcılar district of Istanbul. In the second phase of the study, a Meaning-Oriented Psycho-Educational Group Program was implemented with 27 students over eight weeks, and the effectiveness of the program was evaluated using the Cyberbullying, Cyber Victimization, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scales. For data analysis, means, standard deviations, and variance analyses were performed; independent t-tests were used for comparisons between two groups, while one-way ANOVA was conducted for comparisons among multiple groups. When significant differences were found, Tukey, Scheffe, and Dunet-C post-hoc tests were applied, and the effectiveness of the program was assessed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. Findings indicated that gender, age, grade level, social media usage time, and personality traits had significant effects on students’ social media attitudes and cyberbullying levels. Male students were found to be more exposed to cyberbullying, a positive relationship was identified between social media usage time and social media attitudes, and weak but significant associations were observed between personality traits and social media attitudes. Furthermore, the implemented group program had significant positive effects on students’ levels of cyberbullying, cyber victimization, and self-esteem.

Keywords: Social media attitudes, cyberbullying, cybervictimization, self-esteem, meaning-focused psycho-educational group program