A Possible Social Support Paradox in Adolescent Digital Risk: Online Hate Exposure, Cyberviolence Acceptance, and Divergent Peer-Family Contexts

Social support is generally assumed to protect adolescents from digital risk, yet its associations may differ by source and context. Using national data from 9296 South Korean adolescents, this study examined associations among online hate exposure (OHE), cyberviolence acceptance (CVA), online risk behavior (ORB), online peer support (OPS), and perceived family support (PFS). OHE was positively associated with CVA and ORB, with a significant indirect association between OHE and ORB through CVA. OPS was positively associated with ORB, whereas PFS was negatively associated with ORB and attenuated the OPS-ORB association. The negative PFS-ORB association was weaker at higher CVA. However, explained variance was modest and both interactions were very small. The findings suggest a possible social support paradox but require longitudinal replication.