Cyber Victimization and Sleep Quality Among Undergraduate Students: The Mediating Role of Depression

Background and objective: Cyber victimization is a burgeoning psychosocial stressor among undergraduate students, associated with detrimental mental health and sleep consequences. Nevertheless, research information elucidating the processes by which cyber victimization influences sleep quality is scarce. The purpose of this study is examination of the interrelationship among cyber victimization, depression, and sleep quality in a sample of undergradute students.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 290 undergraduate students from October 6 to October 30, 2025. Cyber victimization was assessed using the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, depression was examined with the 30-item Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale, and sleep quality was analyzed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Data were analyzed utilizing SPSS 26.0 and PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 4, employing 5,000 bootstrap samples to examine direct and indirect effects.Results: Cyber victimization was positively associated with depression (<i>β</i> = 0.222, p = .005) and poorer sleep quality (<i>β</i> = 0.215, p = .001). Depression was strongly associated with poorer sleep quality (<i>β</i> = 0.574, p < .001). Mediation analysis showed a significant indirect association between cyber victimization and sleep quality through depression (<i>β</i> = 0.127, p = .010). The model explained 4.9% of the variance in depression and 35.9% of the variance in sleep quality.Conclusion: Cyber victimization was associated with poorer sleep quality among undergraduate students, both directly and indirectly through depressive symptoms. However, the low explained variance in depression indicates that cyber victimization represents only one of multiple factors related to depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the need for integrated university interventions addressing online victimization, depressive symptoms, and sleep-related difficulties.