Risky cyber behaviors in adolescents with depression: A case control study

•Adolescents with depression have higher scores of cyberbullying, cyber victimization, and internet and digital game addictions, compared to the control group.•The adolescents with depression were more likely to use the internet for social media and chat than their healthy peers.•The parents of the depressed adolescents used social media more frequently than the parents of the control group.•The level of digital game addiction increases, cyberbullying sensitivity decreases, and that an increase in internet addiction was associated with increased cyberbullying, and the latter with an increased cyber victimization as well. This study aimed to compare adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy adolescents with regard to cyberbullying, cyber victimization, internet addiction, and digital game addiction. This cross-sectional study was performed in Selçuk University Hospital. The study sample consisted of 34 adolescents with MDD and 39 controls without any psychopathology. A socio-demographic data form, the Cyber bullying Scale (CBS), Cyber Victimization Scale (CVS), Cyber bullying Sensibility Scale (CBSS), Internet Addiction Scale (IAS), Digital Game Dependence Scale (DGA-7), and Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale-Refurbished (RCADS) were administered to all participants. CBS, CVS, IAS and DGAS-7 scores of the MDD group were significantly higher than those of the control group. The significant differences persisted even after controlling for confounding factors such as age, gender, socio-economic level, and parental educational levels with MANCOVA. A strong positive correlation existed between CBS and CVS scores, and higher IAS scores were associated with higher CBS scores in the MDD group. CBSS scores negatively correlated with DGAS-7 scores in the MDD group. Due to the cross-sectional design of this study, conclusions about causality remain speculative. This study demonstrated the importance of assessing problems related to the online environment in the presence of depression in adolescents. Our results suggested that evaluating the use of technology with a view to the potential for cyber bullying and cyber victimization as well as internet addiction and addiction to digital games may be necessary as a holistic approach in the follow-up of adolescent depression.