Cyberbullying and emotional distress in adolescents: the importance of family, peers and school

Abstract

The paper examines the role of socioeconomic status, family, parenting styles, peer relations and school factors in cyber-bullying with focus on emotional consequences. A survey was conducted with 259 participants (202 female) aged 19–25. 58,1% experienced some form of cyber violence, and 56,8% did not bully others. 21% report regular cyber victimization with distinct emotional disturbance (31,3%), anger (20,8%), helplessness (13,1%) and sorrow (20,5%). Girls talk to others about cyberbullying more often (p<,05). Boys (p<,05) and younger participants cyberbully others more (p<,01). Students with lower academic achievement cyberbully others more than those with average academic success (p<,01). Cyberbullying correlates negatively with traditional protective factors in risk behaviour aetiology (family, school and peer relations). Younger male participants (p<,01), who have less educated mothers (p<,05), lower academic achievement (p<,01) and report lower satisfaction with family life, peer relations and school attainment (p<,01) represent an average cyberbully profile. Age (p<,01) and school success (p<,01) predict cyberbullying for younger and academically less efficient participants. Emotional distress and reactiveness is the strongest predictor of cyber victimization (p<,001), while cyber victimization represents the strongest predictor for cyberbullying perpetration (p<,001). Peer pressure positively predicts cyber victimization (p<,01). Finally, lower family life quality predicts cyber victimization (p<,001), as well as cyberbullying perpetration (p<,05).