Information Technology Behavior Cyberbullying in Thailand: Incidence and Predictors of Victimization and Cyber-Victimization

Abstract

Cyberbullying is becoming an important issue internationally, including in Thailand. I report findings from a questionnaire survey of 1,183 students drawn from 12 schools in southern Thailand, aged 14 to 17 years. The questions asked included demographic information, use of ICT, as well as experiences of being a victim or perpetrator of traditional bullying (not cyber) and cyberbullying. Students were asked if they had been bullied (not cyber), or cyberbullied at school in the past couple of months. We used two criteria of involvement: lenient (it happened at least once or twice), and strict (it happened 2 or 3 times a month or more). With the lenient criterion, 16.0% were traditional victims and 14.9% cybervictims. With the strict criterion, 6.0% were traditional victims and 3.7% cybervictims. We carried out logistic regression analyses in order to see how victim status was predicted, on the basis of 5 variables: gender, grade, religion, province, and parent education. Separate analyses were carried out, for lenient and severe criteria, and for traditional and cyber victim. Three criteria were non-significant for all four of these analyses: grade, province, and religion. Gender was significant in all analyses: male students were more likely to be victims, especially cyber victims. Parent education was significant, but only for lenient cybervictims: here, higher parental education was associated with greater risk of being a victim. The findings are discussed in relation to research in other eastern and western cultures; and to the needs for further research and intervention in schools in Thailand.