A Study of Cyber Bullying Behavior in Middle-Schools in Rabat- Morocco: Prevalence and Risk FactorsA Study of Cyber Bullying Behavior in Middle-Schools in Rabat- Morocco: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Abstract

Background: Cyber bullying is considered a public health issue in many developed countries while inMorocco there is a lack of data about this phenomenon.Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of cyberbullying among students in middleschools in Rabat and to determine risk factors among students’ cyberbullying profiles.Method: It’s a cross-sectional study based on an anonymous self-report questionnaire about inflictedcyberbullying during the last twelve months. Data were collected in 16 middle-schools in the urban area ofRabat. A total of 1914 students aged from 12 to 16 years participated in the study.We used a Multinomial Logistic Regression to examine the relationship between the cyber bullying categoriesand our independent variables.Results: Cyber bullying has been reported by 54,5%(n=1043) of the sample, of which 18,8%(n=360), beingvictims only, 11,7% (n=224) being perpetrators only, and 24,0% (n=459) being perpetrators/victims. Therewasn’t a significant difference in profile between genders. Most popular types of cyberbullying behaviorwere text messages and exclusion from internet groups. Regarding traditional bullying, the prevalenceswere 35% (n=669) of whom 16,4% (n=313) victims only, 7,6% (n=145) perpetrators only and 11%(n=211)perpetrators/victims. Our study showed that traditional bullying was the main risk factor of cyberbullying.Conclusion: Cyber bullying is a major issue among students in middle schools in Rabat. The main riskfactor is the involvement in traditional bullying. Hence,preventive actions should be taken to help reduceand overcome violence in schools.