Adolescents\u2019 Involvement in Cyber Bullying and Perceptions of School: The Importance of Perceived Peer Acceptance for Female Adolescents

Lucy R Betts,Karin A Spenser,Sarah E Gardner

doi:10.1007/s11199-017-0742-2

Lucy R Betts, Karin A Spenser + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0742-2

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Journal: Sex Roles	Publication Date: Mar 15, 2017
Citations: 30	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Nottingham Trent University

Abstract

Young people are spending increasing amounts of time using digital technology and, as such, are at great risk of being involved in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/victim. Despite cyber bullying typically occurring outside the school environment, the impact of being involved in cyber bullying is likely to spill over to school. Fully 285 11- to 15-year-olds (125 male and 160 female, Mage = 12.19 years, SD = 1.03) completed measures of cyber bullying involvement, self-esteem, trust, perceived peer acceptance, and perceptions of the value of learning and the importance of school. For young women, involvement in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/victim negatively predicted perceptions of learning and school, and perceived peer acceptance mediated this relationship. The results indicated that involvement in cyber bullying negatively predicted perceived peer acceptance which, in turn, positively predicted perceptions of learning and school. For young men, fulfilling the bully/victim role negatively predicted perceptions of learning and school. Consequently, for young women in particular, involvement in cyber bullying spills over to impact perceptions of learning. The findings of the current study highlight how stressors external to the school environment can adversely impact young women’s perceptions of school and also have implications for the development of interventions designed to ameliorate the effects of cyber bullying.

Highlights

Young people are spending increasing amounts of time using digital technology and, as such, are at great risk of being involved in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/ victim
The current study examined the impact of 11- to 15-year-olds’ self-reported involvement in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/victim on their perceptions of learning and the value of school
The variables used to assess cyber bullying involvement as a victim, bully, and bully/victim were treated as continuous to overcome issues associated with creating cut-off scores that can alter the proportion of individuals classified as a bully, victim, bully/victim depending on the criteria used

Summary

Introduction

Young people are spending increasing amounts of time using digital technology and, as such, are at great risk of being involved in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/ victim. Despite cyber bullying typically occurring outside the school environment, the impact of being involved in cyber bullying is likely to spill over to school. Involvement in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/victim negatively predicted perceptions of learning and school, and perceived peer acceptance mediated this relationship. The current study examined the impact of 11- to 15-year-olds’ self-reported involvement in cyber bullying as a victim, bully, or bully/victim on their perceptions of learning and the value of school. In the current study we simultaneously examined young people’s experiences as the victim, bully, and bully/victim in cyber bullying, and we expected that involvement in cyber bullying (as a victim, bully, or bully/victim) will be associated with negative perceptions of learning and school (Hypothesis 1)

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