European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire Research Articles

Relationship between Amount, Type, Enjoyment of Physical Activity and Physical Education Performance with Cyberbullying in Adolescents.

(1) Background: Cyberbullying is a social concern in adolescents. The practice of physical activity is a key factor in protection against cyberbullying related to the multiple psychological benefits. Therefore, the study sets out to analyse the relationship between amount, types, enjoyment of physical activity and performance in physical education with cyberbullying. (2) Methods: A sample of 867 adolescents between 12 and 19 years of age from two schools in Andalusia (Spain) was studied. A computer-based questionnaire given in the classroom was used, with two questions about the type of physical activity, one on physical education performance, the Scale of Enjoyment of Physical Activity (PACES) and the Spanish version of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ). (3) Results: Clear relationships were found between the practice of physical activity and cybervictimisation. However, less involvement has been observed among girls who practice physical activity in cyberaggression. (4) Conclusions: In relation to the types of physical activity, it seems that practising physical activities that involve competition can help to develop defence mechanisms against cyberaggression, as well as improve values to be less involved in cyberaggression.

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.

Gratitude and Emotional Intelligence as Protective Factors against Cyber-Aggression: Analysis of a Mediation Model.

Cyber-bullying is becoming an increasing school and health problem affecting adolescents worldwide. A number of studies have examined risk factors and protective factors in cyber-bullying situations and their consequences on the psychological well-being of adolescents. Gratitude and Emotional Intelligence (EI) are two personal resources that have been shown to have beneficial effects on the health and the social, personal and psychological functioning of young people. Nevertheless, little is known about these two variables in the context of cyber-bullying. The main purpose of this study was to examine the roles of gratitude and EI in cyber-aggression. Specifically, we hypothesised a mediational effect of gratitude in emotional intelligence-cyber-aggression link. A total of 1157 students aged 12–18 years (54.4% females) completed several questionnaires assessing gratitude (Gratitude Questionnaire; GQ-5), EI (Wong and Law’s Emotional Intelligence Scale; WLEIS-S) and cyber-bullying (European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire; ECIPQ). The results showed expected significant associations between the studied variables. Moreover, the structural equation model analysis confirmed that EI dimensions were indirectly associated with cyber-aggression via gratitude, even when controlling for the effects of socio-demographic variables. These findings provide evidence on why those adolescents high in emotional intelligence are less aggressive in cyber-bullying context and suggest possibilities for gratitude interventions to reduce aggressive actions by electronic means among adolescents. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

PERCEIVED SCHOOL CLIMATE, PARENTAL MONITORING AND CYBERBULLYING AMONG ADOLESCENTS

The aim of this research was to find out the connection between the perceived school climate, parental monitoring and cyberbullying among adolescents, and whether there were differences in these variables between two adolescent age groups. It was examined how the dimensions of the perceived school climate and parental monitoring explain the adolescents’ experience of cyber victims and cyberbullies. A total of 309 Latvian students from grades 5 to 12 (200 respondents from grades 5-9 and 109 respondents from grades 10-12) participated in the research. In data collection Parental Monitoring Scale (Stattin & Kerr, 2000), Georgia School Climate Survey (La Salle, McIntosh, & Eliasson, 2016) and European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (Brighi et al., 2012) were applied. The results confirmed significant positive correlation between school climate perception, adequate parental monitoring and less cyberbullying. Also, significant differences between two age groups in perceived school climate, parental monitoring and cyberbullying indications were found. The younger group's adolescents provided more positive evaluations of school climate and parental monitoring, while the older group's adolescents reported more cyberbullying experience. The school climate dimensions Order and discipline, Character, Social support from peers together with negative aspect of parental monitoring Parental solicitation significantly predicted cyberbullying behavior in whole adolescent sample. These results create a better understanding of the variables concerning cyberbullying.

Relationship between suicidal thinking, anxiety, depression and stress in university students who are victims of cyberbullying

The objective of this study is to analyze the predictive capacity of cybervictimization with regards to suicidal thinking and anxiety, depression and stress in university students. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 and the Suicidality Scale were administered to a sample of 1282 university students (594 men and 688 women) aged between 18 and 46 (M = 21.65; SD = 4.25). The results suggest that being a cybervictim increases the probability of suicidal thinking and presenting high levels of anxiety, depression and stress. This study highlights the high prevalence rates of cyberbullying in the university environment and how this issue is associated with emotional problems and suicidal thinking. The identification of these relationships may allow for the development of effective preventive intervention measures to respond to this problem.

Cyberbullying in the University Setting. Relationship With Emotional Problems and Adaptation to the University.

Little scientific attention has been paid to the problem of cyberbullying in the university environment, compared to similar studies conducted on adolescents. This study attempts to analyze the predictive capacity of certain emotional problems (anxiety, depression, and stress) and university adaptation with respect to cyberbullying in victims and aggressors. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 and the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire were administered to a sample of 1282 university students (46.33% male) aged between 18 and 46. The results suggest that high levels of depression and stress increase the probability of being a cyberbullying victim, while high levels of depression increase the probability of being a cyberbullying aggressor. Similarly, the personal–emotional and social adaptation of students are found to be predictor variables of being a cyberbullying victim, in that high levels of personal–emotional and social adaptation decrease the probability of being a victim, while high levels of personal–emotional, academic and institutional adaptation decrease the probability of being a cyberbullying victim. The results of this study are of special relevance, since they indicate that intervention programs should consider the influence of emotional intelligence, as well as the relevance students’ adaptation to university.

Bullying y cyberbullying escolar en niños y jóvenes adolescentes: un estudio de caso

The objective of the research was to identify the incidence of bullying and cyberbullying in 983 students at age 10 to 15, from the sixth to the tenth grade of EGB, belonging to five educational institutions in the city of Cuenca, for which the variables of bullying and cyberbullying were crossed with age, sex and educational level of the surveyed students, visualizing the involvement of the protagonists, the typology and its manifestations. The methodology used was quantitative, with relational descriptive scope, making use of two measurement instruments: The European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (EBIPQ) and the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ), which allowed to identify the incidence and characteristics of bullying and cyberbullying. There was evidence of 28.3% of students’ victim of bullying, of them 20.7% were victim of bullying, 4.3% cyber victim and 3.4% victim of both bullying and cyberbullying. In bullying the main typology was direct verbal, while in cyberbullying its main manifestation were electronic insults and exclusion. A higher level of involvement of males was seen as victims and victimized aggressors. In terms of age, the 12- to 15-year-old students belonging respectively to the eighth, ninth and tenth grade presented a higher level of involvement as victimized cyber attackers. In conclusion, there is a greater presence of traditional school bullying and a lower incidence of cyberbullying, however, a direct relationship between the two forms of bullying seems to be present.

Asegúrate: An Intervention Program against Cyberbullying Based on Teachers' Commitment and on Design of Its Instructional Materials.

This article presents the impact on cyberbullying of the Asegúrate program. This educational program is based on the theory of normative social behavior, self-regulation skills, and the beliefs held by adolescents and consists in a whole package of strategies and resources to help teachers to include in the ordinary curricula. The evaluation of Asegúrate was carried out with a sample of 4779 students (48.9% girls) in 5th and 6th grade in primary education and compulsory secondary education (M = 12.76; SD = 1.67) through a quasi-experimental methodology, with two measures over time. The instrument used was the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire. The results show that the involvement in cyberbullying as cyber-victim, cyber-aggressor, and cyber-bully-victim increase without intervention, whereas it diminishes when intervention is carried out by the teachers who have received specific training and have used the didactic Asegúrate package. Additionally, the impact of the intervention on the different types of behaviors was analyzed, and the results show that Asegúrate is more effective with some forms than with others. Consequently, the Asegúrate program is effective for decreasing the prevalence of cyberbullying, but some modifications need to be made to impact on all the different forms it can take.

The Role of Family in Bullying and Cyberbullying Involvement: Examining a New Typology of Parental Education Management Based on Adolescents’ View of Their Parents

The influence of the family in children’s involvement in bullying and cyberbullying has been well documented. However, previous research into this relationship seems to have overlooked recent social changes, which have affected the family context. The aim of this study is to put forward a categorization of the current educational management of Spanish parents and examine how this is linked to their children’s involvement in bullying and cyberbullying. To achieve this, 2060 schoolchildren from the South of Spain (47.9% girls with mean age = 14.34) answered four questionnaires including the Scale for the Assessment of the Parenting Styles of Adolescents’ Mothers and Fathers, the Discipline Dimensions Inventory, the European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, and the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire. The Cluster Analysis results revealed a typology containing six styles: permissive, authoritarian, strict, normative democratic, indulgent democratic, and punitive democratic. Lower levels of victimization and aggression in bullying and cyberbullying were found to be linked to the indulgent democratic or normative democratic styles and higher levels to the authoritarian and strict styles. The value of parents’ educational practices and how they are combined in general styles, since these are elements that can predispose or prevent adolescent’s involvement in bullying and cyberbullying, is discussed.

Validation of a Cyber Bullying and Victimization Measure Among Elementary School-Aged Children

Drastic increases in access to and use of technology among younger children has given rise to concerns about their exposure to cyber forms of bullying and victimization. However, few validated measures exist for accurately capturing younger children’s involvement. To this end, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the validity of a cyberbullying and victimization measure. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the construct validity of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire on a sample of 841 3rd through 5th grade students that was previously validated on 7th–10th grade adolescents. Findings suggest that this measure may adequately capture younger children’s exposure to cyber victimization but may be less sensitive to capturing their perpetration of cyber bullying. Study findings also provide some support that cyber bullying may represent a unique form of bullying that is distinct from traditional forms. Implications for social work practice with children and adolescents are discussed in light of the need for accurate and reliable assessment tools for practitioners.

Cyberbullying in the university setting. Relationship with family environment and emotional intelligence

Currently, the enormous quantity of research on cyberbullying during adolescence contrasts with those studies carried out in the university environment. The objective of this study was to analyze the predictive capacity of family environment and emotional intelligence with regard to cyberbullying in university students. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, the Social Climate in the Family Scale and the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 were administered to a sample of 1282 university students (594 men and 688 women) between the ages of 18 and 46 (M = 21.65; DT = 4.25). The results revealed that a deteriorated family environment increases the probability of being both a victim and an aggressor of cyberbullying, whereas a favorable family environment decreases this probability. Likewise, the dimensions of emotional intelligence were predictive variables of participation as victims or aggressors of cyberbullying. The conclusions of this study are of special relevance given that they do not only bring about a problem that has a little knowledge of the university setting, but because they also note that intervention programs should consider the influence of the family environment during the early adulthood period, as well as the relevance of emotional level of these university students.

Cybergossip and cyberbullying during primary school years

The use of social networking sites and instant messaging apps, despite playing a key role in building social relations, poses a risk, such as cybergossip. This research focused on the study and measurement of the cybergossip phenomenon and the psychometric properties of the Cybergossip-Q-Primary instrument. Cybergossip involvement in the development of cyberbehaviours performed in cyberbullying was analyzed. The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ) was adapted to primary school-age children. The sample comprised 866 students (52.9% girls) with ages ranging from 10 to 13years (M=11.21, SD=0.90). Using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the fit of a one-dimensional structure for the cybergossip instrument and a two-dimensional structure for cyberbullying (cyberaggression and cybervictimization) were contrasted. A structural equations analysis revealed a significant relationship between cybergossip and cyberbullying. The results in relation to cybergossip, cyberaggression, cybervictimization, and the consequences of misinterpreting information are discussed.

Online aktivnosti i rizična ponašanja adolescenata u virtualnom okruženju

Internet addiction and cyberbullying among youth are phenomena that show a significant increase owing to the development of technology and the wide accessibility of the Internet. Research was conducted among adolescents (N = 352) in 9 randomly selected high schools in Croatia, with the aim of investigating the relationship between habitual Internet use and online risk behaviors among adolescents. The standardized measuring instruments used in the research were the Internet addiction test (Young, 1998) and The European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (Del Rey et al., 2015) and questions about sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and online activities. The results show that 36.2% of the participants exhibit different symptoms of Internet addiction, while 50.7% of them partake in various forms of cyberbullying. Furthermore, it is established that the amount of time spent on the Internet on instant messaging, watching movies/videos, listening to music and playing online games correlates both with Internet addiction and with participating in cyberbullying among young people. The research confirmed the assumptions of the theory of routine activities and the results indicate that perpetrators of cyberbullying show a tendency to risky behavior also in other online activities. The paper presents the relationship between the level of Internet addiction and experience of cyberbullying and provides guidelines for future research in this area.

Validation of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire for Colombian Adolescents.

Cyberbullying is the act of using unjustified aggression to harm or harass via digital devices. Currently regarded as a widespread problem, the phenomenon has attracted growing research interest in different measures of cyberbullying and the similarities and differences across countries and cultures. This article presents the Colombian validation of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ) involving 3,830 high school students (M = 13.9 years old, standard deviation = 1.61; 48.9 percent male), of which 1,931 were Colombian and 1,899 Spanish. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), content validation, and multigroup analysis were performed with each of the sample subgroups. The optimal fits and psychometric properties obtained confirm the robustness and suitability of the assessment instrument to jointly measure cyber-aggression and cyber-victimization. The results corroborated the theoretical construct and the two-dimensional and universal nature of cyberbullying. The multigroup analysis showed that cyberbullying dynamics are similar in both countries. The comparative analyses of prevalence revealed that Colombian students are less involved in cyberbullying. The results indicate the suitability of the instrument and the advantages of using such a tool to evaluate and guide psychoeducational interventions aimed at preventing cyberbullying in countries where few studies have been performed.

Evaluar el bullying y el cyberbullying validación española del EBIP-Q y del ECIP-Q

Bullying is a phenomenon of unjustified aggression which actually takes place in two formats: face to face and as a behavior that is carried out through digital devices (cyberbullying). Both have been widely studied, though currently there is little knowledge about the homogeneity of both phenomena and we do not have measuring instruments for evaluating their two dimensions: aggression and cyber-aggression, victimization and cyber-victimization. This paper presents the validation of the European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, that assess respectively the involvement in bullying and cyberbullying. Both have been administered to 792 high school students and have achieved good fit and good psychometric properties. The use of a structural equations modelling has allowed us to evaluate the concurrence and the relations between the two phenomena, finding the influence of bullying on cyberbullying, but not vice versa. These results show the suitability of the two instruments to assess together bullying and cyberbullying, given their important relationship and similarity, which makes them good tools for educational intervention to prevent and reduce both phenomena.

Perceived emotional intelligence as a moderator variable between cybervictimization and its emotional impact.

The negative effects of traditional bullying and, recently, cyberbullying on victims are well-documented, and abundant empirical evidence for it exists. Cybervictimization affects areas such as academic performance, social integration and self-esteem, and causes emotions ranging from anger and sadness to more complex problems such as depression. However, not all victims are equally affected, and the differences seem to be due to certain situational and personal characteristics. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) and the emotional impact of cybervictimization. We hypothesize that EI, which has previously been found to play a role in traditional bullying and cyberbullying, may also affect the emotional impact of cyberbullying. The participants in our study were 636 university students from two universities in the south of Spain. Three self-report questionnaires were used: the “European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire,” the “Cyberbullying Emotional Impact Scale”; and “Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24.” Structural Equation Models were used to test the relationships between the analyzed variables. The results support the idea that PEI, by way of a moderator effect, affects the relationship between cybervictimization and emotional impact. Taken together, cybervictimization and PEI explain much of the variance observed in the emotional impact in general and in the negative dimensions of that impact in particular. Attention and Repair were found to be inversely related to Annoyance and Dejection, and positively related to Invigoration. Clarity has the opposite pattern; a positive relationship with Annoyance and Dejection and an inverse relationship with Invigoration. Various hypothetical explanations of these patterns are discussed.

Structural validation and cross-cultural robustness of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire

During the last decade, cyberbullying has become an increasing concern which has been addressed by diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. As a result there is a debate about its nature and rigorously validated assessment instruments have not yet been validated. In this context, in the present study an instrument composed of 22 items representing the different types of behaviours and actions that define cyberbullying has been structurally validated and its cross-cultural robustness has been calculated for the two main dimensions: cyber-victimization and cyber-aggression. To this end, 5679 secondary school students from six European countries (Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, and Greece) were surveyed through this self-report questionnaire which was designed based on previously existing instruments and the most relevant conceptual elements. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted and the global internal consistency was computed for the instrument and its two dimensions. Identical factor structures were found across all of the six subsamples. The results contribute to existing research by providing an instrument, the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, which has been structurally validated in a wide sample from six different countries and that is useful to evaluate psycho-educative interventions against cyberbullying.