Cyberbullying, Digital Behaviour and Mental Health Among Health-Professions Students in Kenya: A Multicampus Study

Background Cyberbullying is an emerging public health and student-well-being concern associated with adverse psychological and social outcomes among young adults. However, evidence on the prevalence, patterns, associated factors and mental-health correlates of cyberbullying among health-professions students in sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. This study examined cybervictimisation, cyberperpetration and psychological well-being among students of the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), Kenya. Methods A multicampus cross-sectional study was conducted among 406 KMTC students. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire incorporating sociodemographic, academic and digital-use characteristics and established measures of cyberbullying and psychological well-being. Cybervictimisation and cyberperpetration were assessed using the 22-item European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ). Psychological measures included the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), WHO-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). Cyberbullying involvement was characterised in terms of victimisation, perpetration and mutually exclusive involvement roles comprising uninvolved, victim only, perpetrator only and bully–victim. The dataset supports epidemiological, multivariable and psychometric analyses, including assessment of the ECIPQ factor structure, reliability, construct validity and measurement invariance. Results Among the 406 participants, 260 (64.0%) reported at least one cybervictimisation experience and 184 (45.3%) reported at least one cyberperpetration behaviour during the reference period. Using the broad involvement definition, 128 (31.5%) participants were uninvolved, 94 (23.2%) were victims only, 18 (4.4%) were perpetrators only and 166 (40.9%) were bully–victims. Under a stricter repeated-involvement definition, 139 (34.2%) experienced cybervictimisation and 84 (20.7%) reported cyberperpetration; 75 (18.5%) were classified as bully–victims. The dataset further captures variation in cyberbullying behaviours, digital-use characteristics and multiple dimensions of psychological health and well-being. Conclusions Cyberbullying involvement was common among the participating Kenyan health-professions students, with substantial overlap between victimisation and perpetration. The dataset provides a comprehensive resource for examining the epidemiology and correlates of cyberbullying, its association with psychological distress and well-being, and the measurement properties of the ECIPQ in a Kenyan health-professions student population. The data are being made available through the Open Science Framework to support transparency, reproducibility and secondary scientific use.