Abstract
The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of social-network use within Latino-American (N=55), African-American ( N=20), and White (N=62) college students and its effects on their psychological well-being. More specifically, the study sought to examine if cyberbullying victimization, offending, compulsive use of Facebook, social support, ethnic identity, and gender predicted self-esteem. Group differences (i.e., ethnicity and gender) and interactions (ethnicity by gender) were also assessed. Surveys were administered via email by means of the Qualtrics system. A snowball sampling method was utilized. Participants were recruited by means of social media outlets such as Facebook. There were a total of 165 participants (29 males and 136 females) in the final sample. Results indicated that among Latino-American college student's social support was a predictor of self-esteem. Results also indicated significant ethnic group differences found on ethnic identity and self-esteem such that African-Americans scored higher on these variables. A significant difference was found between men and women on social support and self-esteem with women scoring higher on social support and men scoring higher on self-esteem. Results indicated several significant interactions of ethnicity and gender. On cyberbullying victimization, Latino males scored the highest in comparison to African-American males, and White males. On compulsive Facebook use, African-American males scored highest in comparison to Latino males, and White males. Implications of findings and directions for future research are suggested.