Social media addiction and cyberbullying sensibility in team sports athletes: the mediating role of digital literacy and the moderating role of difficulties in emotion regulation

Purpose – This study examined the relationship between social media addiction and cyberbullying sensibility among team sports athletes. In addition, the mediating role of digital literacy and the moderating role of difficulties in emotion regulation were investigated within this relationship. Methodology – The study included 265 licensed team sports athletes from Erzincan, Türkiye. Data were collected using measures of social media addiction, cyberbullying sensibility, digital literacy, and difficulties in emotion regulation. The construct validity of the scales was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS Macro Models 4 and 14 with bootstrap-based regression procedures. Result – The findings showed that social media addiction was significantly associated with digital literacy, and digital literacy showed a significant positive relationship with cyberbullying sensibility. The indirect relationship between social media addiction and cyberbullying sensibility through digital literacy was statistically significant. In addition, this indirect association was more pronounced among athletes with lower difficulties in emotion regulation, whereas it was not significant among those with higher difficulties in emotion regulation. These findings support a moderated mediation model based on conditional associations. Conclusion – The findings suggest that digital literacy plays a mediating role in the relationship between social media addiction and cyberbullying sensibility among team sports athletes. Furthermore, difficulties in emotion regulation appear to influence the strength of this indirect relationship. The study highlights the importance of considering both digital competencies and emotional processes in understanding athletes' experiences in digital environments. Copyright © 2026 Ekinci, Birkok, Kaçay, Işık, Talaghir, Coja, Berdila and Olaru.