PEER RELATIONS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE AS PREDICTORS OF CYBER-DELINQUENT BEHAVIOUR: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SPORTS BETTING ADDICTION AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA.

Abstract

Cyber delinquency is one of the growing concern particularly among the teaming population of young adults, most of whom are undergraduates. Their relation with peers and psychological experience has been linked to this delinquent behaviour, where sports betting seem to be an enabling factor. This study therefore investigate peer relations and psychological abuse as predictors of cyber-delinquent behaviour among undergraduates in South-Eastern Nigeria: The Mediating Role of Sports Betting Addiction. Cross-sectional survey design was used and a total of 768 university students were selected using online survey (google forms), comprising of 440 (57.3%) male and 328 (42.7%) female aged between 17 - 30 years. Peer relations scale developed by Kelvin et al. (1999), psychological abuse scale developed by Momta et al. (2020), sports betting addictive behaviour scale developed by Igo and Ehigie (2021) and cyber-delinquent scale developed by Arıcak et al. (2012) were used as instruments for data collection. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested and the result showed that peer relations, psychological abuse and sports betting significantly, independently and jointly predicted cyber-delinquent behaviour among undergraduates in South-Eastern Nigeria. The result further showed that sports betting significantly mediate the predictive power of peer relations and psychological abuse on cyber-delinquent behaviour among undergraduates in South Eastern Nigeria. Findings were discussed in relation to other studies, conclusions were drawn and implications enumerated.

Key Words:         Peer Relations, Psychological Abuse, Cyber-Delinquent Behaviour, Sports Betting Addiction, Undergraduates