Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine the moderation of parental mediation in the longitudinal association between being a bystander of cyberbullying and cyberbullying perpetration and cyberbullying victimization. Participants were 1067 7th and 8th graders between 12 and 15 years old (51% female) from six middle schools in predominantly middle-class neighborhoods in the Midwestern United States. Increases in being bystanders of cyberbullying was related positively to restrictive and instructive parental mediation. Restrictive parental mediation was related positively to Time 2 (T2) cyberbullying victimization, while instructive parental mediation was negatively related to T2 cyberbullying perpetration and victimization. Restrictive parental mediation was a moderator in the association between bystanders of cyberbullying and T2 cyberbullying victimization. Increases in restrictive parental mediation strengthened the positive relationship between these variables. In addition, instructive mediation moderated the association between bystanders of cyberbullying and T2 cyberbullying victimization such that increases in this form of parental mediation strategy weakened the association between bystanders of cyberbullying and T2 cyberbullying victimization. The current findings indicate a need for parents to be aware of how they can impact adolescents’ involvement in cyberbullying as bullies and victims. In addition, greater attention should be given to developing parental intervention programs that focus on the role of parents in helping to mitigate adolescents’ likelihood of cyberbullying involvement.
Highlights
Cyberbullying is often conceptualized as a dyadic conflict between the perpetrator and victim, adolescents can have other roles in these conflicts
Findings revealed that bystander of cyberbullying was correlated positively with restrictive medication, instructive mediation, and T1 and Time 2 (T2) cyberbullying victimization and perpetration
We found that increases in restrictive parental mediation strengthened the positive relationship between bystanders of cyberbullying and Time 2 cyberbullying victimization
Summary
Cyberbullying is often conceptualized as a dyadic conflict between the perpetrator and victim, adolescents can have other roles (e.g., defender, bystander) in these conflicts. Researchers have focused on factors that might reduce adolescents’ involvement in cyberbullying (Hinduja and Patchin 2008; Rivers et al 2009) One such factor is parental mediation, and it influences adolescents’ cyberbullying involvement (Livingstone and Helsper 2008; Navarro et al 2013; Sasson and Mesch 2017; Wright 2018), it is unclear how parental mediation might impact the likelihood of being a bystander of cyberbullying. It is unknown whether parental mediation might diminish the likelihood of bystanders of cyberbullying becoming cyberbullying perpetrators or cyberbullying victims.
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