The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of involvement in cyberbullying as perpetrators and victims on a sample of Croatian high school students, as well as to determine the contribution of self-esteem, parental warmth and parental control in its prediction, whilst controlling for gender, school performance and frequency of internet use. The study was conducted on 208 students (129 girls and 79 boys) of first to third grade of comprehensive schools. The administered instruments included Scale of Cyberbullying Perpetration, Scale of Cyberbullying Victimization, Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and The Perception of Family Interactions Scale. The results have shown self-esteem and parental control to be significant predictors of cyberbullying victimization, while engaging in cyberbullying was predicted only by parental control. Adolescents who reported higher levels of parental control were more likely to be involved in cyberbullying as victims, as well as perpetrators, while children who were more often victimized also reported lower levels of self-esteem. The findings about the nature of the relationship between self-esteem, parenting factors and involvement in cyberbullying, present a contribution to the limited literature in this field, and provide implications for developing interventions aimed at coping with cyberbullying.

cyberbullying, self-esteem, parental warmth, parental control