Abstract
Digital life forms part of daily reality for young people. For this reason, traditional bullying in school has been reproduced in the online environment, resulting in an overlap of off- and online bullying. Research on socio-emotional competencies and bullying is revealing interesting results among students in secondary schools. However, studies involving primary school students are much scarcer. In addition, the majority of studies have been carried out based on an understanding of socio-emotional competencies as a unidimensional construct. In the present study, we examined the overlap between off- and online bullying victimization and the influence of the factors comprising socio-emotional competencies on this overlap. Participants comprised 1130 students (49.7% were boys and 50.3% were girls) from the fifth and sixth grades at 15 schools in the autonomous communities of Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). The results indicate a high rate of overlap between off- and online bullying victimization, without significant gender differences. Poor relationship skills in boys and low self-management in girls were associated with being a victim of both traditional bullying and cyberbullying. The conclusions point to an interesting line of intervention and prevention, establishing a framework of confluence for social and emotional variables within the primary education context.
Highlights
Bullying has been defined as an aggressive behavior that is repeated over time within a relationship in which there is an inequality of power and in which the victim is isolated.When this aggressive behavior is inflicted through electronic devices, it is called cyberbullying [1]
According to the results of longitudinal studies, the victimization suffered in the final years of primary education continues into secondary school [17] and has serious consequences for students [5,18]
We propose four hypotheses: (H1) There will be an overlap of offand online bullying and its prevalence will be greater than the prevalence of online bullying alone; (H2) this will occur in a similar way in boys and in girls
Summary
Bullying has been defined as an aggressive behavior that is repeated over time within a relationship in which there is an inequality of power and in which the victim is isolated. When this aggressive behavior is inflicted through electronic devices, it is called cyberbullying [1]. Socio-emotional competencies have been shown to predict positive interpersonal relationships, including peer relationships [6,7]; it has been observed that they improve the atmosphere in school [8] and prevent risk behaviors such as technological abuse [9] or violence [10]. It has been shown that students high in socio-emotional skills are good communicators, know how to negotiate conflicts constructively, seek help when they consider it necessary, and adopt responsible social behaviors [6,7]
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