Abstract
Cyberbullying is a relatively new form of bullying, with both similarities and differences to traditional bullying. While earlier research has examined associations between school-contextual characteristics and traditional bullying, fewer studies have focused on the links to students’ involvement in cyberbullying behavior. The aim of the present study is to assess whether school-contextual conditions in terms of teachers’ ratings of the school leadership are associated with the occurrence of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration among students. The data are derived from two separate data collections performed in 2016: The Stockholm School Survey conducted among students in the second grade of upper secondary school (ages 17–18 years) in Stockholm municipality, and the Stockholm Teacher Survey which was carried out among teachers in the same schools. The data include information from 6067 students distributed across 58 schools, linked with school-contextual information based on reports from 1251 teachers. Cyberbullying victimization and perpetration are measured by students’ self-reports. Teachers’ ratings of the school leadership are captured by an index based on 10 items; the mean value of this index was aggregated to the school level. Results from binary logistic multilevel regression models show that high teacher ratings of the school leadership are associated with less cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. We conclude that a strong school leadership potentially prevents cyberbullying behavior among students.
Highlights
Cyberbullying can be defined as “the use of electronic communication technologies to bully others.” [1] (p. 1074)
7.3% reported to have been subjected to cyberbullying victimization, and 3.0% to have been involved in cyberbullying perpetration during the current school year
Cyberbullying is a significant problem among students, demonstrated not least by the fact that cyberbullying behavior is associated with adverse psychological health outcomes over and above involvement in traditional bullying behavior [4,8,10,11,12]
Summary
Cyberbullying can be defined as “the use of electronic communication technologies to bully others.” [1] (p. 1074). Traditional school bullying has been defined in terms of negative acts committed towards an individual by one or more other persons [2]. Three common criteria in the definition of traditional forms of school bullying are repetition, unequal power, and intentional harm [3]. Traditional school bullying includes negative actions that are most often performed face-to-face, such as showing disapproval, teasing, ostracism, and physical harm. Cyberbullying concerns such negative actions that are performed via mobile phones, computers, and other electronic devices. While cyberbullying shares attributes with traditional forms of school bullying, it presents itself with some unique features
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