Paranoia Predicts the Perpetration of Psychological and Relational Cyber Dating Abuse

J Interpers Violence. 2025 Oct 1:8862605251372571. doi: 10.1177/08862605251372571. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Cyber dating abuse involves intrusive electronic behaviors toward a romantic partner. While past research has treated cyber dating abuse as a single phenomenon, we examined cyber dating abuse as multifaceted, distinguishing between psychological and relational cyber dating abuse. This paper explored the roles of paranoia and digital jealousy in the perpetration of cyber dating abuse (N = 517 men and women in a nonclinical population). Data were collated via Qualtrics on social media platforms and the departmental research participation scheme. Persecution (paranoia, β = .321, p < .001) and digital jealousy (β = .350, p < .001) significantly predicted psychological cyber dating abuse, with persecution (β = .369, p < .001) and sex (β = -.106, p = .013) predicting relational cyber dating abuse. These findings are the first to collectively highlight the roles of digital jealousy, paranoia, and sex in cyber dating abuse, with implications for clinical and public health interventions aimed at reducing cyber dating abuse.

PMID:41035202 | DOI:10.1177/08862605251372571