Cyberbullying Victimization Research Articles

Questionnaire on Assessing Individual Vulnerability to Cyberbullying: Development and Preliminary Validation

Cyberbullying is manifested in repeated deliberate acts of aggression by one or more persons who use electronic means of communication to attack a victim who cannot defend him- or herself. Cyberbullying is a form of violence through harassment, insults, bullying, humiliation or intimidation carried out using the Internet, mobile phones and other electronic devices. Cyberbullying is widespread and causes severe harm to its victims, having a negative impact on their mental and physical health. The purpose of this study is to develop a reliable and valid questionnaire on assessing individual vulnerability to cyberbullying. The article constructs such a questionnaire and proves that it meets the standard reliability criteria: internal consistency, homogeneity and retest reliability. It is shown that the questionnaire is valid and satisfies the key validity criteria: validation in the process of designing the questionnaire, substantive, constructive and convergent validity. The questionnaire is standardised, the norms for young men and women are given, presented in average values and standard deviations. The theoretical basis of the study is the model of manipulative influence (which includes cyberbullying) and the psychological mechanism of cyberbullying described by this model. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model of the presented questionnaire has good indicators of reliability and statistical consistency. The experimental part of the study involved 307 young men and women at the ages from 17 to 21 years old - students of medical colleges and cadets of the University of the Ministry of Emergencies. The study included two stages of psychodiagnostics of the subjects carried out with an interval of two months. The states of individuals vulnerable to cyberbullying, identified using the questionnaire, are consistent with the results obtained in previous studies. The proposed questionnaire makes it possible to warn an individual about the existing or threatening danger of becoming a victim of cyberbullying. The questionnaire can stimulate the study of cyberbullying in the Russian-speaking society and, in particular, in cross-cultural studies.

The Relationship between Personal Resources and Depression in a Sample of Victims of Cyberbullying: Comparison of Groups with and without Symptoms of Depression.

Previous research has highlighted the relationship between being cybervictimised and the presence of clinical symptoms, such as depression. To date, however, there has been no comparative analysis of the personal resources profiles of adolescent victims of cyberbullying with and without depressive symptoms. The current study analysed the relationship between positive personal resources and clinical symptoms in 251 adolescent victims of cyberbullying at several Spanish high schools. It examined how several positive personal resources varied in adolescent victims of cyberbullying who displayed symptoms of depression (n = 89) or did not (n = 162). Victims of cyberbullying who displayed depressive symptoms reported lower levels of personal resources (emotional intelligence, gratitude, optimism, and forgiveness) than those who did not. Logistic regression provided evidence that gratitude was the strongest predictor of depressive symptoms in victims of cyberbullying, followed by emotional intelligence and optimism. These findings expand the existing literature on the role of personal resources in mental health and highlight the need for their development in youths to help them cope more effectively and function better after being cyberbullied.

Academic achievement, and cyber-bullying and cyber-victimization among middle- and high-school students in Vietnam

ABSTRACT Rates of Internet usage among Vietnamese students have been estimated to be high and consequently, risk for cyber-bullying and cyber-victimization also may be high. However, current research in this area is limited, with the two primary studies of cyber-bullying among Vietnamese students based on short questionnaires (three and four items) and limited samples (i.e., from one school, and from two schools in the same city). A more comprehensive assessment thus is important in order to more precisely define the magnitude of the problem and to more accurately identify culturally relevant risk factors. In the present study, 1,040 Vietnamese 6th through 12th-grade students from 4 schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were assessed using the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory. Results indicated that 7.1% of participants were victims of cyber-bullying only, 4.7% were initiators of cyber-bullying only, and 11.3% were both initiators of cyber-bullying and victims of cyber-bullying; thus, about one-fourth of the sample was involved in maladaptive online behaviors. Academic achievement was significantly related to levels of cyber-bullying but not cyber-victimization, with top-performing students showing significantly higher levels of cyber-bullying than all other students. Implications of these results are discussed.

Social networking and online self-disclosure as predictors of cyberbullying victimization among children and youth

With mass acceptance and use of social networking sites (SNSs), many people now regularly disclose personal information via SNSs. Self-disclosure on SNSs has been connected to higher incidences of cyberbullying, which is concerning for children and youth who use SNSs. The current research aims to examine Internet and SNS activity, online self-disclosure and the education institution phase as predictors of cyberbullying victimization (CV), among children and youth. It was hypothesized that Internet and SNS activity, online self-disclosure and the education institution phase predict CV. Data were collected from 5719 primary and secondary Israeli students (51.9% females) during the 2019–2020 school year via online questionnaires. Regression analyses and moderation analysis were conducted to assess the predictability of CV from Internet and SNS activity, online self-disclosure and the education institution phase. Findings indicate that Internet and SNS activity, online self-disclosure and the education institution phase predict CV, both separately and in convergence. Additionally, CV is more prevalent in primary schools compared to secondary schools, and in male students compared to female students. Implications for school programs and guidelines for parents address the predictive factors of CV found. This study expands the knowledge of the impact of Internet and SNS activity and online self-disclosure on CV.

ONLINE WORLD as a TRAJECTORY for YOUTH ASSAULT: a REVIEW of RESEARCH on CYBERBULLYING VICTIMISATION and COMBATING LAW ENFORCEMENT

ONLINE WORLD as a TRAJECTORY for YOUTH ASSAULT: a REVIEW of RESEARCH on CYBERBULLYING VICTIMISATION and COMBATING LAW ENFORCEMENT

Social Contagion in Bullying: an Examination of Strains and Types of Bullying Victimization in Peer Networks

This study examined risk and protective factors for four types of bullying victimization – physical, verbal, relational, and cyber bullying – while assessing the influence of vicarious, anticipated, and experienced strains from General Strain Theory. In this study, experienced strain was operationalized as exposure to negative stimuli, such as rejection. Vicarious strain was operationalized as witnessing or being aware of other people’s negative experiences, such as peer victimization, and anticipated strain occurred when an individual had negative expectations about the future, such as a fear of harm. Using a sample of Southeastern high school students, this study found that individuals who experienced vicarious strain (peer victimization) had a higher likelihood of experiencing the same type of victimization as their peers. Previous bullies were also likely to experience the same type of bullying that they initiated. Anticipated strain (fear of attack) was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing verbal and cyber bullying. Adult support was associated with an increased likelihood of verbal bullying but decreased likelihood of relational bullying victimization. Peer support was associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing relational and cyber bullying victimization. The results support Agnew’s (2006) proposal that experienced, vicarious, and anticipated strains are correlated with antisocial behavior and victimization (Zavala & Spohn, 2013). Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Factors affecting cyber bullying experience among intermediate school students in Baghdad, Iraq

Objectives: To identify prevalence and associated factors to control and prevent this increasingly prevalent health problem. 
 Methods: A cross-sectional study has been conducted on a sample of 442 eligible middle school students, with a range of age from 14 – 15 years. The sample was selected by multistage stratified random sampling. The data collected by pre tested questionnaire which gathered the socio-demographic characteristics of the students and questions about their feelings toward themselves, family, and their schools and questions about cyber bullying.
 Results: Prevalence of cyber bullying was 19.7%, and it has a significant association with private school (P<0.04), higher grade (P<0.03), students have more than two siblings, increase birth order, students have unemployed mothers, high level of parent education, their mothers have no history of injuries or complications during pregnancy and their delivery, family not displaced, not losing any member of the family during the sectarian conflict, and family conflict (P<0.001), students with bad feeling about themselves, their family and school, access to internet in and outside home(P<0.001).
 Conclusion: High percent of cyber bullying experience among intermediate school students. Cyber bullying victimization is more in private school, higher grade, high level of parent's education, family conflict and bad feeling about themselves, their family, and school, having computers linked to internet at home and access to internet outside home. Cyber bullying perpetration is higher among students who their mothers educational level was high, family conflict, and bad feeling about themselves, their family, and school, access to internet outside home.

SUICIDAL IDEATION AMONG CYBER BULLYING VICTIM COLLEGE STUDENTS

Cyber bullying victims have the most noteworthy paces of suicidal ideation, requiring hypothesis and exploration researching self destruction and its avoidance in later-life. The experience of suicidal ideation is fundamentally connected with discouragement, sadness, negative wellbeing results, and mortality among cyber bullying victims. The research reported in this paper examines the impact of ethnicity, stream and gender on suicidal ideation among cyber bullying victim college students. The data obtained by stratified random sampling was based on three sub-groups of ethnicity (tribal and nontribal), stream (arts and science) and gender (male and female). The sample of 160 students was drawn from different colleges of Ranchi University. Suicidal ideation scaled by Dr Sisodia and Dr Bhatnagar was used to measure level of suicidal ideation. The findings obtained revealed that victims of different ethnicity and stream not differ to each other with respect of suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation of the female victim students is higher than male victim students. It confirms the role of gender effect on the suicidal ideation. No two and three way interaction effect of independent variables was found significant. In general there is a need of further exploration on bigger sample size and distinctive populace.

Written and visual cyberbullying victimization in adolescence: Shared and unique associated factors

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the antecedents of cyberbullying victimization and addressed the commonalities and differences between visual and written forms of cyberbullying victimization among 3172 Italian adolescents (51.6% male, M age = 13.74 years, SD = 1.70) who participated in the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC, 2014) survey. The results from two logistic regression models revealed that the two distinct forms of cyberbullying victimization presented common and unique associated factors. Family support was negatively associated with both forms of cyberbullying victimization, while greater use of social networks and frequent experiences of traditional bullying victimization were positively associated with both forms. Neither written nor visual forms of cyberbullying victimization were associated with the quality of school relationships or online gaming frequency. Gender (female) was associated with written, but not visual, cyberbullying victimization. Finally, visual cyberbullying victimization was positively associated with high family socio-economic status and traditional bullying perpetration. The findings highlight the urgent need to tailor preventive and intervention strategies for the adolescent population.

Intervention programme to prevent bullying in adolescents in physical education classes (PREBULLPE): a quasi-experimental study

ABSTRACT Background: Bullying is a social problem where there is a phenomenon of intentional aggression that occurs in all schools. It has multiple negative consequences for the victim’s psychological health. As school is a context for learning about life in society, strategies to prevent such attitudes and behaviours should be encouraged. Although some studies seem to indicate the potential of the subject of physical education to promote attitudes and behaviours against bullying, there is still insufficient scientific evidence to deduce a positive impact on the reduction or prevention of this phenomenon. Purpose: This study aimed to analyse the effectiveness of a specific intervention to prevent bullying in Physical Education classes in Secondary Education. 6 specific sessions inserted into the physical education curriculum to find out what bullying is, who its protagonists are and how to prevent it. Participants and setting: In the study, 764 students with an age range of 12–19 years (49.3% girls; age mean [M] = 14.80, standard deviation [SD] = 1.69) from two public educational centres participated. Among them, 439 were randomly assigned to the quasi-experimental group (48.1% girls; age M = 14.70, SD = 1.59) and 325 to the control group (51.1% girls; age M = 14.94, SD = 1.83). Data were collected at two timepoints, pre- and the post-intervention data. Data collection: The Spanish version of the European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (EBIPQ) was used to measure the incidence of bullying. To measure cyberbullying, the Spanish version of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ) scale was used. Data analysis: The Student t-test was performed to compare possible differences between the experimental and control groups in the pre-test. To compare the means of the factors obtained based on the variables and the instruments used, as well as the scores obtained from the subjects of the experimental and control groups at the two timepoints, linear models of repeated measurements have been established comparing the pre- and post-intervention moments and the experimental and control groups, introducing sex and grade variables to compare the effectiveness of the programme based on them. Results: There were no differences in the pre-test measurements in any of the variables. After the intervention programme in the quasi-experimental group, the bullying victimisation (F = 16,951; p = .000) and bullying aggression (F = 5,215; p = .023) rates decreased significantly more than they did the control group. Likewise, victimisation in cyberbullying (F = 6,234; p = .013) decreased significantly differently, but aggression in cyberbullying did not (F = 0,099; p = .753). Conclusion: The implementation of a specific intervention to prevent bullying inserted into the physical education curriculum seems to have decreased bullying and cyberbullying victimisation.

The Effect of Cyber bullying Victimization on Counterproductive Work Behavior

Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) is a behvaior that is contrary with the norms and the rules of an organization. CWB can give the big problems in financial and non-financial aspect for an organization or a member of organization . In this study we will show the effect of cyberbullying victimization on CWB in organization. In this research CWB will be analyzed with the level of cyberbullying victimization that is a variabel which is rarely been studied. The object of this research is pest contrl sector that is never studied in previoud research. A questionnaire has been designed and distributed to 585 pest control employees at Indonesia and the data will be analyzed with SEM ( Structral Equation modelling). This research show that cyberbullying victimization give the positive and significant effect to CWB. This illustrates that the higher level of cyberbullying victimization within an organization, the higher CWB rate and otherwise.Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) is a behavior that is contrary with the norms and the rules of an organization. CWB can give the big problems in financial and non-financial aspect for an organization or a member of organization . In this study we will show the effect of cyber bullying victimization on CWB in organization. In this research CWB will be analyzed with the level of cyber bullying victimization that is a variable which is rarely been studied. The object of this research is pest control sector that is never studied in previous research. A questionnaire has been designed and distributed to 585 pest control employees at Indonesia and the data will be analyzed with SEM ( Structural Equation modelling). These researches show that cyber bullying victimization give the positive and significant effect to CWB. This illustrates that the higher level of cyber bullying victimization within an organization, the higher CWB rate and otherwise.

Cyberbullying victimization and depressive symptoms in Vietnamese university students: Examining social support as a mediator

Cyberbullying is growing in university students and tends to become a serious problem. Victims of cyberbullying may develop depressive symptoms such as insecurity, loneliness, low self – esteem, sadness, feelings of not belonging, academic decline, and even thought suicidal thoughts and behavior. However, little is known about social support as a mediating factor for the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and depressive symptoms. This study aims to determine whether social support mediates the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and depressive symptoms in university students. Participants were 606 Vietnamese university students, who completed questionnaires related to their experience with cyberbullying victimization, depressive symptoms and perceived social support. This study indicates that: a) cyberbullying victimization is positively correlated with depressive symptoms; b) In the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and depressive symptoms in Vietnamese university students, social support is partly mediated. Our study contributes to the clarification and expansion of the intermediary mechanisms related to the development of depressive symptoms in university students who report being victims of cyberbullying. • Social support is negatively correlated with cyberbullying victimization and depression. • Cyberbullying victimization is positively correlated with depression. • Social support partially mediated the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and depression.

Up in Smoke: Exploring the Relationship between Bullying Victimization and E-Cigarette Use in Sexual Minority Youths

Background E-cigarette use is increasing in popularity for high school students (Singh et al., 2016) and may be accompanied by negative health outcomes (Rankin et al., 2019). Students who identify as sexual minority (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer/questioning) may be at an increased risk of bullying victimization and substance use due to their sexual identity (Caputi, 2018). Purpose/Objectives: This study explored the relationship between bullying in school and cyberbullying (i.e. bullying through social media) victimization with past 30-day e-cigarette use for sexual minority youths, an at-risk group for victimization and its negative consequences. Methods: The Youth Risk Behavioral Survey was utilized to study a sample of sexual minority high school students (N = 2302; 69.4% female). Three models were utilized to examine whether bullying in school or cyberbullying victimization were related to e-cigarette use after controlling only for demographics in the demographics model, and then the use of other substances in the substance use model. Cigarette use was combined with e-cigarettes as the dependent variable in the third comparative model. Results: After controlling for age, race, sex, sexual identity, and other substance use, bullying victimization in school and online were significantly related to current e-cigarette use together but not separately. Cyberbullying victimization was significantly related to combined cigarette and e-cigarette use. Conclusions/Importance: These findings suggest that sexual minority students who report cyberbullying victimization may use cigarette products more than their noncyberbullied peers. Cyberbullying prevention and interventions should continue to be targeted in schools, especially for sexual minority youths.

Associations between the Canadian 24 h movement guidelines and different types of bullying involvement among adolescents

BackgroundThe Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth recommend ≥60 min of physical activity per day, ≤2 h of recreational screen time per day, and 9−11 hours of sleep per night for 11–13 years old and 8−10 hours per night for 14–17 years old. ObjectiveThis study examined the association between combinations of these recommendations and school bullying and cyberbullying victimization and perpetration among adolescents. Participants and SettingA total of 5615 Canadian students (mean age = 15.2 years) who participated in the 2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) self-reported their physical activity, screen time, sleep duration, and their involvement in bullying. MethodsLogistic regression analyses were adjusted for important covariates. ResultsMeeting the screen time recommendation alone was associated with lower odds of being a victim (OR: 0.64; 95 % CI: 0.46−0.88) or a bully (OR: 0.64; 95 % CI: 0.43−0.96) at school and a victim of cyberbullying (OR: 0.67; 95 % CI: 0.49−0.91). Meeting both the screen time and sleep duration recommendations was associated with lower odds of being a bully (OR: 0.51; 95 % CI: 0.30−0.88). Meeting all 3 recommendations showed stronger associations (i.e. lowest risk) with being a victim of school bullying (OR: 0.32; 95 % CI: 0.19−0.54), a bully-victim (OR: 0.25; 95 % CI: 0.08−0.78) or a victim of cyberbullying (OR: 0.37; 95 % CI: 0.17−0.84). ConclusionsOur findings provide evidence that meeting the 24 -h movement guidelines is associated with lower odds of bullying involvement. Encouraging adherence to the 24 -h movement guidelines could be a good behavioural target to prevent involvement in both school bullying and cyberbullying.

Perceptions of cyber bullying amongst student teachers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Cyber bullying has become a topical issue in South Africa. However, there is very little guidance and training for teachers on how to deal with cyber bullying in the classroom. This study investigated the perceptions of cyber bullying amongst student teachers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The backdrop of this study is a context where there is a proliferation of technologies in much of South African society. Within this, there are calls to not only investigate the positive side of technology but also aspects where technology may have a “dark” side. The study made use of a quantitative survey approach to collect data from 150 student teachers at a university in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The student teachers were representative of all three the school phases used in South Africa. The results indicated that almost half of the student teachers had been victims of cyber bullying. Overall, cyber bullying was considered a serious issue for the student teachers but awareness of the prevalence of the issue decreased outside the classroom. The topic has not been incorporated into policy or the school curriculum in South Africa. The recommendation of the study is that the Department of Basic Education in South Africa must provide a standardised policy and curriculum that schools can use to implement and enforce cyber safety behaviour in the schools.

An international systematic review of cyberbullying measurements

Cyberbullying victimization is an international phenomenon and is increasing globally at a high rate. However, studies have shown inconsistent findings for the definition, measurement, and prevalence of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. To provide an overview of the existing scales and to suggest ways to standardize the cyberbullying measurement, this study analyzed sixty-four international studies on cyberbullying measurements using the following categories: general characteristics, definition of cyberbullying, study sample characteristics, sample size, type of device or social media, time frame, survey type, item-pooling method, subscales, reliability, and validity. Regarding the definition of cyberbullying, 46 of the 64 studies explained the concept of “cyberbullying.” Furthermore, only 15 studies followed the recommended guidelines, either fully or partially, when developing their scale. Although most of the cyberbullying instruments revealed moderate to high reliability, only half of the studies assessed the validity of the cyberbullying measurements, with a high portion of them testing the construct validity. Our findings address the need for a consistent and standardized definition of cyberbullying to use worldwide, which may be the most important factor in measuring cyberbullying behaviors.

Weapon Carrying and Mental Health Concerns Among Victims of Cyber-Bullying

Weapon Carrying and Mental Health Concerns Among Victims of Cyber-Bullying

Weapon Carrying and Mental Health Concerns Among Victims of Cyber-Bullying

Introduction: School violence has recently gained national attention. In several cross sectional studies, weapon carrying was associated with multiple interrelated factors which include demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and school-related characteristics of high-school age adolescents. This study examined the association between electronic bullying and carrying weapons to school in high school students in the United States. Methods: The data for this cross-sectional study was extracted from the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) …

Involvement of Teenage-Students in Cyberbullying on WhatsApp

Cyberbullying has become a crucial issue that continues to develop in line with the advancement of technology. This study is presented to show that cyberbullying can be analyzed through the perspective of communication science, particularly since cyberbullying can be found on the social media WhatsApp. This article aims to reveal the intensity of junior high school (sekolah menengah pertama – SMP) students’ involvement in cyberbullying via the social media WhatsApp, and their responses to being a victim of cyberbullying. The research employed a survey method by involving 281 randomly selected respondents from six SMPs in Yogyakarta Municipality. Data collection was carried out by using a questionnaire. The study found that all the students, who were respondents in the research, had been involved in at least one out of the seven types of cyberbullying, which are flaming, harassment, denigration, impersonation, outing and trickery, exclusion, and cyberstalking. The intensity of the student’s involvement varies and is identified to be in the low and moderate categories. Exclusion is the most common type of cyberbullying often experienced by the students, while impersonation is categorized as having the lowest intensity. In the study, more students in seventh grade were found to be victims of cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying Victimization and Adolescent Depression: The Mediating Role of Psychological Security and the Moderating Role of Growth Mindset.

The objective of this study was to examine the mechanisms (the mediating role of psychological security and the moderating role of growth mindset) underlying the association between cyberbullying victimization and depression among adolescents. A sample of 755 adolescents (Mage = 13.35 ± 1.02; 373 boys) was recruited from two junior high schools, and the participants were asked to voluntarily complete a set of measures, including the cyberbullying victimization subscale in the Chinese version of the Cyberbullying Inventory, the Chinese version of the Security Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Growth Mindset Inventory. The results indicated that: (1) cyberbullying victimization was positively associated with depression through the mediating effect of psychological security and (2) both the direct association between cyberbullying victimization and depression and the indirect association through the mediating effect of psychological security were moderated by growth mindset. Specifically, growth mindset could significantly alleviate the adverse effects of cyberbullying victimization on psychological security and on depression. These findings not only shed light on the mechanisms linking cyberbullying victimization to depression among adolescents, but also provide an empirical basis for formulating prevention and/or intervention programs aimed at reducing depression levels and the negative influences of cyberbullying victimization among adolescents.