School Bullying and Cyberbullying Among Boys and Girls: Roles and Overlap

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in the overlap between school and cyberbullying according to the different types of involvement in such behaviors. The current study involved 2,785 Italian students, ages 11–17 recruited from 7 secondary schools, who anonymously self-reported about school and cyberbullying as victims and/or perpetrators. Based on their responses, students were classified as ‘only-bullies,’ ‘only-victims,’ ‘bully/victims,’ or ‘not involved’ in school and/or online. To explain the relationship between school and online bullying, 2 theoretical frames were tested: role continuity and role inversion. Results showed that, for girls, ‘school only-bullies’ were not overlapping with ‘cyber only-bullies,’ and ‘school only-victims’ were not overlapping with ‘cyber only-victims,’ but these categories were related for boys. ‘School bully/victims’ were significantly overlapping with ‘cyber bully/victims’ for both boys and girls. It was concluded that the role continuity approach is most appropriate to explain these 2 disturbing problems in adolescents especially for boys. Intervention efforts should especially target the bully/victims group.