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Ethical Media Competence as a Protective Factor Against Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization Among German School Students
Abstract
Abstract The use of digital information and communication technologies is an integral part of adolescents' everyday life. Besides various opportunities for information, entertainment, and communication, media use is associated with risks such as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying refers to aggressive behavior in the context of computer-mediated communication, characterized by repetition, an intention to harm, and power imbalance. Previous studies have shown that increased media use is a major risk factor for cyberbullying and cybervictimization. Given that restricting media use is not a practical way to reduce the negative effects inherent in media use, the present study examines the relevance of ethical media competence. We expected ethical media competence to buffer the effect of increased media use on cyberbullying and cybervictimization. A survey was conducted with 934 students (53% female) aged 10-17 years (M=13.26, SD=1.63). As expected, hierarchical regression analyses showed a positive main effect of media use, a negative main effect of ethical media competence, and a negative interaction effect of media use and media competence on cyberbullying and cybervictimization. Simple slope analyses revealed that at high levels of ethical media competence, media use has almost no effect on cybervictimization and a significant negative effect on cyberbullying. Consequently, promoting ethical media competence constitutes a potential measure to prevent the risks of increased media use for cyberbullying and cybervictimization.
... For example, Peluchette et al. [11] found that indiscreet selfdisclosure is the main predictor of cybervictimization on social media. As such, [38] stated that users' ethical ability on social media could potentially prevent cybervictimization. Furthermore, Müller et al. [38] describe ethical ability as the information, drive, and capability of online interpersonal communication that follows the law and social norms. ...
... As such, [38] stated that users' ethical ability on social media could potentially prevent cybervictimization. Furthermore, Müller et al. [38] describe ethical ability as the information, drive, and capability of online interpersonal communication that follows the law and social norms. Thus, social media users should be able to recognize the acceptable, proper, desirable, and legal aspects of their actions before being aware of their consequences [39] [37]. ...
... Discussions on privacy state that privacy protection has three main aspects: control over personal information, defense against threats, and users' perception of risk regarding social media communication [75]. Additionally, studies describe that social media users must have relevant security skills and knowledge to adopt protective behavior [37] [38]. Overall, previous studies suggest that victimcentric prevention for cyber safety can be achieved by raising awareness of risky behavior on social media and adopting protective measures to defend against threats and ensure privacy [9] [86], online safety [87], cybervictimization prevention [88], information privacy protection [78][89] [90], risk-reducing behavior [91], and information sharing intention [92]. ...
Self-disclosure is one of the inevitable risky behaviors when using social media, which could lead to grave repercussions. Though self-disclosing benefits are abundant, risks like privacy invasion, security breaches, victim blaming, and cyber victimization await. However, the existing literature mainly discusses privacy-related factors as self-disclosure protection factors; although there have been several discussions regarding acting ethically to ensure cyber safety, it has yet to be investigated in relevance to self-disclosure behavior. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between social media etiquette, protection behavior, and self-disclosure on social media. We also discuss the relationship between offline ethical behavior through the Islamic lens and social media etiquette. Using a quantitative method, we assess the effect of social media etiquette and protection behavior on social media self-disclosures. We surveyed Muslim Malaysian adult social media users and analyzed the findings using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results show that offline ethical behavior significantly affects social media etiquette. We also found that social media etiquette and perceived vulnerability negatively relate to social media self-disclosure. However, perceived severity, self-efficacy, and response efficacy do not significantly affect social media self-disclosures. This study sheds light on the importance of offline ethical behavior in shaping social media etiquette. Consequently, good social media etiquette has an impact on self-disclosure behavior. Thus, these findings offer essential insights for academics, practitioners, and social media platforms on future mitigation efforts for risky social media self-disclosures.
... The use of digital information and communication technology is an integral part of the daily lives of adolescents. Besides being used for positive things such as seeking information, entertainment, and communication, the use of information media and digital communication also shows the risk of cyberbullying in adolescents (Müller et al., 2014). Adolescents are one of the highest users of social media, so they are at risk of cyberbullying, which is a type of intimidation done through social media adolescents, social media users are at risk of being involved in cyberbullying 1.16 times (Müller et al., 2014). ...
... Besides being used for positive things such as seeking information, entertainment, and communication, the use of information media and digital communication also shows the risk of cyberbullying in adolescents (Müller et al., 2014). Adolescents are one of the highest users of social media, so they are at risk of cyberbullying, which is a type of intimidation done through social media adolescents, social media users are at risk of being involved in cyberbullying 1.16 times (Müller et al., 2014). (Cole et al., 2016) adolescents who use social media are 1.16 times more likely to be involved in cyberbullying (Duarte et al., 2018).In cyberspace, forms of intimidation are carried out through information and communication technology, especially the internet, and cell phones, are known as cyberbullying (Garaigordobil & Machimbarrena, 2017). ...
... (Cole et al., 2016) adolescents who use social media are 1.16 times more likely to be involved in cyberbullying (Duarte et al., 2018).In cyberspace, forms of intimidation are carried out through information and communication technology, especially the internet, and cell phones, are known as cyberbullying (Garaigordobil & Machimbarrena, 2017). Cyberbullying refers to aggressive behavior that is carried out repeatedly through communication on social media that aims to frighten and harm other people (Müller et al., 2014) can reach a wider range of targets because it is done anonymously and happens at any time (Hutson et al., 2018). ...
Background: Cyberbullying is a serious problem experienced by almost all countries. In Indonesia, the highest internet users are adolescents, so that adolescents are at risk of experiencing cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying that is done through social media. Bullying carried out both traditionally and through social media has a psychological impact in the form of feelings of sadness and suicide attempts. Purpose: to determine the relationship between cyberbullying and the risk of suicidal ideation in adolescents. Methods: this study was a correlational study with a cross-sectional approach of 1.043 students from ten state high schools and four state vocational schools with random sampling. Data analysis used the Chi-Square test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney test. Results: As many as 21.0% of adolescents involved in cyberbullying are at risk of suicidal ideation. There is a relationship between cyberbullying and the risk of suicidal ideation in adolescents p = 0.000 (p <0.05). Conclusions: The risk of suicidal ideation is not only for adolescents who are involved as victims of cyberbullying but also affects adolescents who are involved as perpetrators, both perpetrators and victims.
... Cyberbullying mengacu pada perilaku agresif yang dilakukan berulang dengan niat untuk membahayakan, dan menakuti orang lain dalam konteks komunikasi melalui media komputer (Müller et al, 2014). Jenis cyberbullying yang paling umum dilakukan adalah flaming, membuat komentar kasar, menyebarkan rumor, membuat komentar yang mengancam akan melukai saat online dan memposting foto memalukan yang dilakukan secara online (Chang et al., 2014). ...
... Bentuk cyberbullying yang paling sering adalah pesan ofensif dan pengucilan sosial. Korban Cyberbullying paling sering melaporkan pesan ofensif dan menyebarkan rumor (Müller et al, 2014). Terdapat beberapa faktor yang dapat mengindikasikan keterlibatan remaja dalam cyberbullying. ...
... Keluarga khususnya orang tua harus lebih menyadari kegiatan online yang dilakukan remaja dan membatasi waktunya agar dapat mengurangi paparan terhadap kekerasan media dan keterlibatan dalam cyberbullying (Chang et al., 2014). Namun, membatasi penggunaan media bukan cara yang tepat untuk mengurangi efek negatif dalam penggunaan media (Müller et al., 2014). Untuk dapat mengurangi efek negatif penggunaan media sosial diperlukan peningkatan kesadaran tentang cyerbullying dan adanya keinginan untuk mengurangi faktor risiko (Rao et al., 2019). ...
Cyberbullying adalah bentuk intimidasi yang dilakukan melalui teknologi informasi dan komunikasi, terutama internet dan telepon seluler. Bagi remaja, penggunaan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi merupakan bagian dari kehidupan sehari-hari, sehingga remaja berpotensi untuk terlibat dalam cyberbullying. Banyak faktor yang bisa mendukung keterlibatan remaja dalam cyberbullying. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mereview berbagai faktor yang berhubungan dengan cyberbullying pada remaja. Metode penelitian : pencarian sistematik artikel penelitian terpublikasi dilakukan di tiga database yaitu ProQuest, PubMed dan Ebsco. Ketiga database dipilih dengan pertimbangan bahwa ketiganya merupakan database yang kredibel untuk memilih artikel berbahasa Inggris yang relevan dalam rentang tahun 2014-2019, dengan mengunakan kombinasi kata kunci : ‘factors’ AND ‘cyberbullying’ AND ‘Adolescents’ OR ‘Teenagers’ OR ‘young adults’. Kemudian didapatkan 489 artkel dan dipilih lima belas artikel untuk dianalisis. Hasil penelitian : didapatkan lima faktor yang mempengaruhi cyberbullying pada remaja yaitu faktor individu diantaranya pengalaman kekerasan, persepsi, gander, usia, kontrol psikologis, dan penggunaan zat adiktif. Faktor keluarga meliputi pola asuh, dukungan keluarga, dan stress orang tua. Faktor teman berupa dukungan. Faktor sekolah yaitu jenis sekolah. Faktor terakhir yaitu penggunaan internet berupa intensitas dan kompetensi media etis. Kesimpulannya : kelima faktor tersebut dapat memengaruhi keterlibatan remaja dalam cyberbullying baik sebagai pelaku maupun korban. Penelitian lanjut diharapkan dapat melakukan analisis faktor-faktor cyberbullying pada remaja sehingga diharapkan dapat mencegah dan dapat melakukan intervensi yang tepat untuk mengatasi masalah cyberbullying.
... Trotz dieser Forderung nach einer breiten sozialen Kontextuierung von Medienkompetenz wurden bisher vor allem einzelne Teilaspekte, wie ethisch-moralische Kompetenzen (Müller, Pfetsch & Ittel, 2014) oder die Rolle der Technologien als Gegenstand interpersonaler Kommunikation (Zylka, Christoph, Kroehne, Hartig & Goldhammer, 2015), operationalisiert und empirisch untersucht. Die von van Deursen, Helsper und Eynon (2016) entwickelte Internet Skills Scale beinhaltet ebenfalls eine Dimension zu kommunikativen Fähigkeiten, welche die folgenden Dimensionen miteinschließt: "(1) the ability to encode and decode messages to construct, understand, and exchange meaning with other humans using message systems such as e-mail, chat boxes, or instant messaging; ...
... B. Dewe & Sander, 1996;Groeben, 2002) und operationalisiert (siehe z. B. Müller et al., 2014;Zylka et al., 2015), beschreibt jedoch eine zentrale Schlüsselkompetenz für das Aufwachsen in den heutigen digitalen Kommunikationsgesellschaften. Dabei besteht zum einen die Notwendigkeit, das Konstrukt breiter und im Kontext der allgemeinen sozialen Entwicklung von Jugendlichen zu betrachten (Livingstone, 2014). ...
... Für jede der daraus resultierenden 16 Dimensionen wurden jeweils vier Items operationalisiert, die mithilfe einer 4-stufigen Likert-Skala von 1 (trifft gar nicht zu), 2 (trifft eher nicht zu), 3 (trifft eher zu) bis 4 (trifft genau zu) beantwortet wurden. Die Entwicklung der Items erfolgte auf Basis des integrativen Modells und der qualitativen Auswertungen von Riesmeyer et al. (2016; siehe Abbildung 1) sowie einer ersten Pilotstudie aus dem Jahr 2016. 2 Einzelne Fragen wurden aus den bestehenden Skalen vonMüller et al. (2014) sowieZylka et al. (2015) übernommen und für die vorliegende Befragung angepasst und modifiziert.Die Ergebnisse der durchgeführten Item-und Skalenanalyse bestätigten, dass insgesamt vier Items aus dem Instrument entfernt werden müssen (jeweils 1 Item aus den Subskalen integratives Wissen, integrative Fähigkeiten, partizipatives sowie integratives Handeln), da sie eine zu geringe Trennschärfe (< .04) aufwiesen. ...
Bisher existieren kaum Konzeptualisierungen oder empirische Untersuchungen, welche die soziale Dimension von Medienkompetenz im Jugendalter systematisch in den Blick nehmen. Basierend auf einem integrativen Modell analysiert die vorliegende Studie die Bedeutung partizipativer, moralischer, integrativer und vermittelnder Kompetenzen für ein sozial kompetentes Handeln online. In der bisherigen Forschung zu Medienkompetenz lag der Fokus meist auf dem Medienwissen. Es wird jedoch angenommen, dass sich Medienkompetenz nicht nur über Wissen definiert, sondern Jugendliche auch die Fähigkeiten und Motivation brauchen, dieses Wissen auf ihr Handeln anzuwenden. Mithilfe eines neu entwickelten standardisierten Messinstruments wurden 1.508 Schülerinnen und Schüler befragt. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen vier Kompetenzfaktoren (partizipativ, moralisch, integrativ, vermittelnd), die sich jeweils aus Wissen, Motivation und Fähigkeiten zusammensetzen. Diese beeinflussen das Handeln der Jugendlichen, wobei die Motivation eine entscheidende Rolle spielt. Eine Förderung von sozialer Medienkompetenz in der pädagogischen Praxis muss demnach verstärkt an den situativen Motiven der Jugendlichen für ein bestimmtes Handeln online ansetzen.
... Several dimensions of media competency have been discussed, such as decoding, evaluating, analyzing and producing media (Aufderheide, 1993) or the ability to access, understand, critically evaluate media contents and to create media communication (Commission of the European Communities, 2007), or information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, safety, and problem solving (Carretero, Vuorikari, & Punie, 2017), with the critical aspect of media reception and production being stressed (Livingstone, 2004;Koltay, 2011). Regarding online aggressive behaviors, among the different components of media competence, the ethical dimension has been proposed as the most relevant (Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014). Ethical media competence has been defined as "the knowledge, motivation, and ability for computer-mediated interpersonal communication that conforms to the law and to social norms (e.g., the 'golden rule')" (Müller et al., 2014, p. 645). ...
... Ethical media competence has been defined as "the knowledge, motivation, and ability for computer-mediated interpersonal communication that conforms to the law and to social norms (e.g., the 'golden rule')" (Müller et al., 2014, p. 645). This includes knowledge about legal rules and social norms in computermediated communication, skills for socially responsible computer-mediated communication, and motivation to adopt socially responsible behavior in computer-mediated communication (Müller et al., 2014). So far, ethical behavior online was seldom studied in relation to cyberbullying victimization (Pieschl, 2018). ...
... While the existence of a negative association between ethical media competence and cyber-aggression is straightforward, Müller and colleagues (2014) showed that ethical media competence can also act as a protective factor against cyber-victimization and concluded that adolescents who responsibly use ICT might be less vulnerable to becoming a victim because, for example, they might disclose less personal information. Conversely, lack of (or less) ethical media competence might characterize youth who are victimized online (Müller et al., 2014;Park et al., 2014;in contrast: Stodt et al., 2015). To the best of our knowledge, no study so far has compared ethical media competence in different profiles of adolescent victims. ...
Significant overlap exists between traditional victimization and peer cyber-victimization. Yet, they can also be somewhat differentiated. Adopting person-centered approaches, studies showed that multiple classes of peer victimization are distinguishable. In particular, this study analyzed the differences in Internet use, Internet motives and behavior and ethical media use of adolescents who are victimized only (or mainly) online (i.e., “cyber-victims”), their peers who are victimized at school (“traditional victims”), students who are frequently victimized both offline and online (“dual victims”), and students who are not victimized. A sample of 1377 Italian adolescents (49.5% females, age M = 16.13, SD = 1.27) completed self-report questionnaires of traditional and peer cyber-victimization and a variety of Internet-related measures. Latent profile analysis yielded four distinct groups: non-victims (79.6% of the sample), traditional victims (9.2%), cyber-victims (9.1%), and dual victims (2.1%). Among the four groups, dual victims, that is, adolescents who are frequently victimized both at school and online, showed the most problematic use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Dual victims and cyber-victims also reported to engage more frequently than the other groups in a variety of Internet activities (e.g., role-playing games and visiting adult sites). Traditional victims reported more coping and conformity motives for using Internet compared to non-victims and, in the latter case, also to cyber-victims. The current findings may help to better understand the link between traditional victimization and peer cyber-victimization with adolescent’s use of information and communication technologies and may inform prevention and educational programs about positive use of new technologies among adolescents.
... Several dimensions of media competency have been discussed, such as decoding, evaluating, analyzing and producing media (Aufderheide, 1993) or the ability to access, understand, critically evaluate media contents and to create media communication (Commission of the European Communities, 2007), or information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, safety, and problem solving (Carretero, Vuorikari, & Punie, 2017), with the critical aspect of media reception and production being stressed (Livingstone, 2004;Koltay, 2011). Regarding online aggressive behaviors, among the different components of media competence, the ethical dimension has been proposed as the most relevant (Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014). Ethical media competence has been defined as "the knowledge, motivation, and ability for computer-mediated interpersonal communication that conforms to the law and to social norms (e.g., the 'golden rule')" (Müller et al., 2014, p. 645). ...
... Ethical media competence has been defined as "the knowledge, motivation, and ability for computer-mediated interpersonal communication that conforms to the law and to social norms (e.g., the 'golden rule')" (Müller et al., 2014, p. 645). This includes knowledge about legal rules and social norms in computermediated communication, skills for socially responsible computer-mediated communication, and motivation to adopt socially responsible behavior in computer-mediated communication (Müller et al., 2014). So far, ethical behavior online was seldom studied in relation to cyberbullying victimization (Pieschl, 2018). ...
... While the existence of a negative association between ethical media competence and cyber-aggression is straightforward, Müller and colleagues (2014) showed that ethical media competence can also act as a protective factor against cyber-victimization and concluded that adolescents who responsibly use ICT might be less vulnerable to becoming a victim because, for example, they might disclose less personal information. Conversely, lack of (or less) ethical media competence might characterize youth who are victimized online (Müller et al., 2014;Park et al., 2014;in contrast: Stodt et al., 2015). To the best of our knowledge, no study so far has compared ethical media competence in different profiles of adolescent victims. ...
Significant overlap exists between traditional victimization and peer cyber-victimization. Yet, they can also be somewhat differentiated. Adopting person-centered approaches, studies showed that multiple classes of peer victimization are distinguishable. In particular, this study analyzed the differences in Internet use, Internet motives and behavior and ethical media use of adolescents who are victimized only (or mainly) online (i.e., "cyber-victims"), their peers who are victimized at school ("traditional victims"), students who are frequently victimized both offline and online ("dual victims"), and students who are not victimized. A sample of 1377 Italian adolescents (49.5% females, age M = 16.13, SD = 1.27) completed self-report questionnaires of traditional and peer cyber-victimization and a variety of Internet-related measures. Latent profile analysis yielded four distinct groups: non-victims (79.6% of the sample), traditional victims (9.2%), cyber-victims (9.1%), and dual victims (2.1%). Among the four groups, dual victims, that is, adolescents who are frequently victimized both at school and online, showed the most problematic use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Dual victims and cyber-victims also reported to engage more frequently than the other groups in a variety of Internet activities (e.g., role-playing games and visiting adult sites). Traditional victims reported more coping and conformity motives for using Internet compared to non-victims and, in the latter case, also to cyber-victims. The current findings may help to better understand the link between traditional victimization and peer cyber-victimization with adolescent's use of information and communication technologies and may inform prevention and educational programs about positive use of new technologies among adolescents.
... Además, no sólo encontramos diferencias en cuanto a las víctimas, sino también en cuanto a los acosadores (Buelga, Cava, Musitu, & Torralba, 2015) Estas diferencias en cuanto al número de víctimas y de acosadores puede ser debido a que no existe un consenso en relación al hecho de si en el ciberacoso es necesario tener en cuenta la repetición como una característica. De este modo, por un lado, nos encontramos estudios donde los autores hacen mención a la necesidad de tener en cuenta la repetición como aspecto clave al igual que en el bullying (R. P. Ang, Huan, & Florell, 2014;Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014;Wachs, 2012;West, 2015). Mientras que otros autores creen que con el uso de las TIC es imposible saber las veces que se ve un vídeo o una página web, por lo que la víctima es humillada una y otra vez con un solo hecho (Beckman, Hagquist, & Hellström, 2013;Frisén, Berne, & Lunde, 2014;Kowalski & Limber, 2013;Slonje et al., 2013). ...
... No obstante, varios de los que analizan este aspecto se encuentran entre la franja 15-25% (A.Estévez et al., 2010;Garaigordobil & Aliri, 2013;Huang & Chou, 2010;Patchin & Hinduja, 2010a;Pelfrey & Weber, 2013;Walrave & Heirman, 2011). Otro aspecto interesante que nos encontramos es que ciertos estudios encuentran un porcentaje mayor de ciberacosadores que de cibervíctimas(Heirman & Walrave, 2012;Müller et al., 2014;Pelfrey & Weber, 2013;Wong et al., 2014), siendo el caso de Yang, Lin y Chen(2014)donde más diferencia se encontró.Uno de los factores que claramente afecta a que existan estas diferencias es el instrumento utilizado. Solo en cuatro estudios incluidos en la revisión utilizaron instrumentos realizados por otros autores y que ya habían sido validados(Hase et al., 2015;Huang & Chou, 2010;Jung et al., 2014;Pelfrey & Weber, 2013). ...
... ). Dentro de este rango, se observa como hay estudios que se aproximan en el porcentaje obtenido y que se pueden agrupar según dicho resultado. Así, tenemos un primer grupo de artículos que la prevalencia está por debajo del 10% (Giménez-Gualdo,Hunter, Durkin, Arnaiz, & Maquilón, 2015;Heirman & Walrave, 2012;Jung et al., 2014;Müller et al., 2014;Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015). Un segundo grupo en el que los porcentajes se aproximan al 15% (R. P.Ang et al., 2014;Cappadocia et al., 2013;Hase, Goldberg, Smith, Stuck, & Campain, 2015;Lam, Cheng, & Liu, 2013;Pelfrey & Weber, 2013). ...
... Penggunaan media sosial bagi remaja merupakan suatu kebutuhan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. tingginya penggunaan internet menjadi salah satu penyebab remaja berisiko terjadinya cyberbullying (Müller et al., 2014). ...
... Tindakan ini dilakukan antar pengguna sosial media baik kepada orang yang mereka sudah kenal bahkan orang yang belum mereka kenal. Tindakan cyberbullying merupakan perilaku agresif berulang melalui media komputer untuk menakuti orang lain (Müller et al., 2014). Untuk dapat bijak menggunakan media sosial remaja harus memiliki pemahaman. ...
p>Universitas Bhakti Kencana bekerja sama dengan SMKN 1 dan SMAN 10 Kota Tasikmalaya untuk mengadakan pengabdian pada masyarakat. Kegiatan dilakukan secara hybride yaitu offline dan online dengan sasaran siswa SMKN 1 dan SMAN 10 Kota Tasikmalaya. Pengabdian masyarakat ini berjujuan untuk meningkatkan pemahaman remaja terkait dengan cyberbullying dan dampak psikologis cyberbullying. Beberapa upaya dilakukan untuk meningkatkan pemahaman remaja mengenai cyberbullying dan dampak psikologis cyberbullying pada remaja. Beberapa agenda dilakukan diantaranya promosi kesehatan melalui pemberian edukasi berupa penyuluhan mengenai cyberbullying dan dampak psikologis yang dapat ditimbulkan dari cyberbullying. Siswa diminta untuk mengisi quesiner pre test dan post test yang bertujuan untuk mengukur seberapa jauh pemahaman remaja akan materi yang diberikan. Hasil menunjukan pengabdian pada masyarakat yan dilakulan melalui edukasi dapat meningkatan pemahaman remaja terhadap cyberbullying dan dampak psikologis cyberbullying.
cyberbullying , dampak psikologis, pemahaman, remaja
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... Livingstone's (2014) concept, thus, explicitly refers to social media platforms assuming the need for a specific set of skills. In contrast to this platform or channel-based perspective on media literacy, other researchers select specific social skills, such as ethical-moral competencies (Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014) and interpersonal communication about technical devices (Zylka, Christoph, Kroehne, Hartig, & Goldhammer, 2015), narrowing the focus to these limited aspects of social interaction online. Dewe and Sander (1996), in contrast, propose a triad of media literacy skills, consisting of expertise/issue competencies, self-competencies, and social competencies. ...
... (1) In an initial literature review, previously established scales on media literacy were scanned and reviewed to check for suitable items to be used or adjusted for the proposed dimensions of social media literacy. Based on this procedure and further conceptual considerations, a first pool of 96 items was developed with questions being adopted and modified from the existing scales by Müller et al. (2014) and Zylka et al. (2015). (2) This first version of the standardized measure was tested in a preliminary pilot study. ...
The present study addresses the increased merging of adolescents’ online and social practices and provides a broad and developmental conceptualization, operationalization, and empirical investigation of social media literacy as a central resource in their everyday lives. Using a newly developed standardized instrument, the study investigated how different components of adolescents’ social media literacy (knowledge, abilities, and motivation) and aspects of their immediate social contexts (family and peers) influence their level of socially competent online behavior. In an initial empirical study, a large sample of 1,508 secondary school students in Germany (ø 14 years, 66% females) was surveyed in a classic paper-and-pencil setting. The findings confirmed that adolescents’ knowledge, abilities, and motivation positively predicted a higher level of participatory-moral, communicative, and educational behavior, with behavioral motivation playing the most influential role. Moreover, perceived parental mediation and peer communication pressure significantly influenced adolescents’ social behavior online, showing different effects for participatory-moral behavior versus communicative-integrative behavior with friends. The findings reveal that it may be challenging for young users to reconcile different social requirements online. Implications for a preventive promotion of media literacy are discussed.
... Accordingly, both the aggressor and the victim are, a priori, substantial characters of the phenomenon, but there are also those that are aggressors and victims at the same time, the bully-victims (Yang & Salmivalli, 2013). In addition, there are researches that identifies cyberbullying exclusively with cyber-aggression (Calvete, Orue, Estévez, Villardón, & Padilla, 2010) or with cybervictimization (Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014), leaving out the dynamic existing between the roles and how the criteria of intentionality, repetition and imbalance of powers takes place between them (Olweus, 2013). Criteria that otherwise are not as evident in cyberbullying as they are in traditional bullying (Dehue, 2013;Slonje, Smith, & Frisén, 2013;Smith, Del Barrio, & Tokunaga, 2013). ...
... It has reinforced the conception of cyberbullying as a phenomenon of dynamic nature in which both the action of attacking and being attacked are relevant (Casas, Del Rey, & Ortega-Ruiz, 2013;Guckin, Cummins, & Lewis, 2010). The different instruments which have been developed and used to measure or study cyberbullying previously are mostly limited only to cyber-aggression (Calvete et al., 2010) or only to cyber-victimization (Müller et al., 2014 Menesini et al. (2011), shared the bi-dimensional perspective. However cyber-aggression and cyber-victimization were considered independent patterns and the study was only carried out for an exclusively Italian sample. ...
... Bullied victims are often expected to simply "get over it" and endure the victimhood, so that they could build and strengthen their character (Hunt, 2011) Studies that examined the relationship between empathetic communication and cyberbullying are scarce. According to the findings of a tangentially relevant survey study, when adolescents had a higher level of ethical media competence, their media use had a significant negative effect on cyberbullying and a non-significant effect on cybervictimization (Müller et al., 2014). By implication, developing ethical media competencies could potentially decrease the use of online media for cyberbullying and cybervictimization. ...
Extant literature has identified cyberbullying tactics and consequences as well as school-and community-based anti-bullying strategies and policies. However, research that explains bullying behavior from a communication perspective in a social network via social media platforms is still lacking. This work theorizes cyberbullying as a relational communication behavior by proposing a conceptual framework that integrates the theories and constructs of personality traits, bystander behavior, spiral of silence, relational aggression, uses and gratifications, and communication competency. Based on the analysis, synthesis and theorization, a set of research propositions and empirical study designs is presented to help guide future research. abstract text. ccording to the National Center for Education Statistics (Diliberti et al., 2019), 33% and 30% of middle and high school students reported cyberbullying incidents at school or away from school at least once a week, respectively. Cyberbullying is considered a type of bullying, just as verbal, physical, and relational bullying (Olweus & Limber, 2017). Researchers have maintained that while bullying and cyberbullying behaviors are unquestionably related, cyberbullying can exceed traditional bullying in causing social and psychological harm, due to its public nature in an online environment (Englander et al., 2017). Bullying and cyberbullying behaviors usually begin during school years. Common types of peer bullying include appearance-based teasing against overweight or obese children-according to a national sample of students in 6th-10th A
... Bentuk cyberbullying yang paling sering adalah pesan ofensif dan pengucilan sosial. Korban Cyberbullying paling sering melaporkan pesan ofensif dan menyebarkan rumor (Müller et al, 2014). Terdapat beberapa faktor yang dapat mengindikasikan keterlibatan remaja dalam cyberbullying. ...
Nowadays, the function of language as a means of conveying messages to establish social interaction is somewhat neglected. Language is no longer a message, but has changed into a sentiment. This is represented in the form of hate speech and bullying that often occurs on social media by violating the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE). The purpose of this community service activity is to increase knowledge and skills about the form of hate speech and bullying texts in Indonesian language literacy for students and also knowledge about the right procedures or strategies to avoid hate speech and verbal bullying by others. In this training, two methods were applied, namely practice and simulation. The results of the community service activities showed that students experienced a significant increase in Indonesian language literacy to avoid hate speech and bullying. Before the delivery of the material, students scored 4,594. However, after the delivery of the material, there was an increase in student scores, namely 4,640. This increase illustrates the effectiveness of the activity program. Students experienced significant progress in terms of understanding or skills as measured by pretest and posttest.
... Here another risk lurks, namely the phenomenon of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is an aggressive act that is carried out repeatedly and intentionally with the aim of frightening, intimidating, threatening, and doing unpleasant actions through digital media [2], [3], [4]. Cyber violence behavior can be done through telephone, email, chat, online social media [5]. ...
Cyberbullying has become a global problem. This phenomenon is not only a trend among teenagers, but has penetrated among children. The impact is felt so significantly by both perpetrators and victims of cyberbullying. The purpose of this study is to map the trend of the cyberbullying phenomenon among children over the past decade. Data search through data-based Scopus with keywords "cyberbullying" and "children", during 2014-2023. The results showed that searching for articles using keywords resulted in 1,001 articles from journals and conference papers only. The development of cyberbullying reality publications experienced the highest increase in 2019 by 14.23%. The largest subject areas are medicine and psychology. This provides an opportunity in the field of education, that the theme of cyberbullying and its impact on the field of education still needs to be deepened in research and publication.
... Although several positive aspects are definitely associated with the increased use of the internet such as promoting interhuman connection, easy access to information, and technological advances, this increasing tendency of using the internet and social media might also be correlated with the risk of cyberbullying. [32,33] Thus, a survey performed between 2007 and 2014 already reported that 25% of teenagers have a history of being cyberbullied and >16% of them have cyberbullied others. [34] According to our findings, >65% of the teenagers included in our study reported that they have heard about cyberbullying. ...
Cyberbullying represents a major concern worldwide, especially among teenagers with major negative psychological impact. We performed a prospective online questionnaire-based study on 316 teenagers in order to assess the prevalence of cyberbullying in Romania, evaluate its psychosocial consequences, and examine the factors that may predispose them to bullying. Almost 50% of the responders stated that they have been previously bullied, with females having a higher risk of being harassed (P = .0043). Most of the victims were bullied on Facebook, Instagram, and video games. More than 53% of the victims included in our study benefit from help. We found that subjects who have been cyberbullied had a significantly higher risk of having bullied friends (P < .0001). Also, we identified a significant association between the teenagers' relationship with the parents and the incidence of bullying (P = .002). Domestic violence and the male gender were significant risk factors for committing cyberbullying (P = .0014/0.0020). Cyberbullying had a negative impact also on the harasser, and previous victims of cyberbullying had a significantly higher risk of becoming bullied (P < .0001). Also, we found a significant association between the type of substance and the perpetration of aggression (P < .0001). Further studies should focus on designing effective strategies in order to decrease the incidence of this harmful online act of bullying.
... These data also support the notion that cyberbullies are likely to have multiple victims, as cyberbullies outnumber cybervictims in prevalence data (Kowalski et al., 2014;Popović-Ćitić et al., 2011). Müller et al. (2014) reported mean scores of 19.38 for cybervictimizaiton and 19.80 for cyberbullying perpetration. This compares well with the current data set, which also had low average scores of 18.49 and 18.93. ...
Cyberbullying is recognized as a problematic behavior that is often first identified during adolescence, a period which has increased susceptibility to developing mental health disorders. Due to the ever-growing nature of social media and technology, cyberbullying behaviors are becoming increasingly problematic for the adolescent demographic. Research has shown that impulsivity, social connectedness, and gender may influence cyberbullying behaviors. To our knowledge, the current study was the first to investigate the direct relationship between these variables and cyberbullying involvement in early adolescents. The sample consisted of participants of the same age and school grade, in order to ensure that data were comparable regarding stage of social development. The sample was 12-year-old participants in grade 7 (N = 69), recruited from the Sunshine Coast, Australia. It was hypothesized that higher impulsivity, lower social connectedness, and female gender would predict higher cyberbullying perpetration and victimization. The results did not support this hypothesis; however, a significant positive relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and victimization was revealed, as well as between impulsivity and social connectedness. Findings from this study help to inform preventative interventions to protect vulnerable individuals from serious mental health disorders, as well as support the need for further research in this area.
... Therefore, Livingstone's (Festl, 2020;Livingstone, 2014) concept specifically refers to online life stages anticipating the need for a clear capability arrangement and structured procedure. Instead of this stage or channeling together, perspectives on media education, various specialists selecting specific social skills, such as moral good skills (Festl, 2020;Müller et al., 2014) and relational communication on specialized gadgets (Festl, 2020;Zylka et al., 2015) narrowing focus on these limited and restricted sections of social link In the contemporary world, the status of media literacy has seen to be elevated in terms of intellectual mean not only in practical capacity of media professionals (i.e., reading text, writing, using a computer, etc.). The reason to that text messages aren't always easy to decode. ...
The level of media literacy among university students is investigated in this study. Several media experts have slammed recent journalism grads. Some educators questioned whether journalists are adequately prepared to assess the media. The level of media literacy among students is investigated in this study. It compares students in the media department to students in other departments such as English, Psychology, and business administration. A quantitative survey methodology was used in this study. Email and in-person surveys are used to conduct the survey. A total of (N=439) students from five universities were chosen. The findings of statistical tests reveal a significant gap in media literacy between students in the media department and those in other departments. Our study reveals that the students of media departments are more literate than the students of other departments.
... Modern scientists also pay attention to the issue of ethical media competence. As a result of the research, C.R. Müller et al. (2014) came to the conclusion that at a high level of ethical media competence, the frequency of media use almost does not affect the spread of cyber victimization (becoming a victim of a crime committed in a digital environment as a social type) and negatively affects the formation of cyberbullying (bullying that carried out in a digital context, which is characterized by repeated intent to harm, by the forces of imbalance). Therefore, promoting the acquisition of ethical media competence is an appropriate measure to prevent the risk of increasing the frequency of media use for the purpose of cyberbullying or cybervictimization. ...
The relevance of research on the given topic is that the competence of a teacher largely depends on their communication skills, as well as on the ability to adapt to working in the media space, which is required by modern education. This is especially relevant for the teachers of the art subjects, in particular the skills of an actor and opera singing, because remote training of specialists in these disciplines requires a high level of teachers' competence. The purpose of the submitted article is to study the media competence of teachers of acting skills and opera class during online training of future opera singers, to develop reliable diagnostic methods of communicative media competence and to compare the obtained indicators of teachers of educational institutions in Ukraine and the USA. The basis of the methodology is a combination of theoretical approaches with empirical observations and thematic survey, which allows to reliably investigate the level of communicative media competence of teachers of art disciplines. A comparative analysis of indicators of communicative media competence of acting and opera teachers of higher educational institutions of Ukraine and the USA demonstrated a certain advantage of teachers of American universities in the ability to work in social networks and organize online events, in psychological readiness to work in front of the camera, in tolerance for users of networks; at the same time, the indicators of situational adaptability, organizational skills and mastering of the means of social behaviour of effective communication are practically not different between teachers of Ukraine and the USA. The results of the research allow drawing conclusions about the expediency and necessity of improving the communicative media competence of teachers in Ukrainian universities, because remote teaching of stage disciplines, although it requires additional skills and abilities, can be not only effective, but also has certain advantages.
... Similarly, a study conducted in German schools showed that social media literacy did not affect cyber victimization (Müller et al., 2014). The interpersonal interaction, one of the subdimensions of the Social Media Usage Purposes Scale, was moderately positively correlated with exposure to cyberbullying and weakly positively correlated with exhibiting and witnessing cyberbullying. ...
The study aims to reveal the relationship between secondary school students' digital literacy levels, social media usage purposes, and the frequency of experiencing cyberbullying. A relational model was used in the research. The sample of the study consists of 476 secondary school students between the ages of 10-13. "Digital Literacy Scale," "Social Media Usage Purposes Scale," and "Cyberbullying Threat Level Scale" were used to obtain the data. T-test (Mann Whitney U), ANOVA (Kruskal Wallis), and correlation analysis were used in the study. The findings showed that students' digital literacy and the use of social media for interpersonal interaction and lesson preparation are moderate. Regarding the results of the cyberbullying scale sub-dimensions, their witnessing, exhibiting, and exposure to cyberbullying was observed to be low. Finally, there are moderate positive relationships between secondary school students' digital literacy levels and social media usage for interpersonal interaction and lesson preparation purposes. In addition, digital literacy has a weak positive relationship with being exposed to and witnessing cyberbullying. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' DIGITAL LITERACY LEVELS, SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE PURPOSES AND CYBERBULLYING THREAT LEVEL
... Similarly, a study conducted in German schools showed that social media literacy did not affect cyber victimization (Müller et al., 2014). The interpersonal interaction, one of the subdimensions of the Social Media Usage Purposes Scale, was moderately positively correlated with exposure to cyberbullying and weakly positively correlated with exhibiting and witnessing cyberbullying. ...
This study aimed to extend the knowledge of teacher job satisfaction by specifically
examining predictors at the teacher level. Several components of job satisfaction were
examined for their hypothesized impact, including the focused predictor of teacherstudent relations. Based on the United States sample in the Teaching and Learning
International Survey (TALIS) 2018 data, the author explored this issue utilizing
responses from 2,560 lower secondary school teachers nested within 166 schools.
Using the transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus, & Folkman, 1984) as a
framework, the study found that teacher-student relationships are a positive and
significant predictor of teacher job satisfaction. After controlling for relevant
predictors, teacher relationships with their students were the strongest predictor of
their job satisfaction present in the study. Discussions and implications are
presented.
... This may be particularly the case for cyberbullying with it's clear link to technology usage, but links with traditional bullying have also been found. In relation to cyberbullying, a number of studies have shown that increased media usage and activities were associated with involvement in cyberbullying in different countries (e.g., Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, and the USA; Erdur-Baker, 2010; Hinduja & Patchin, 2008;Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014;Sticca, Ruggieri, Alsaker, & Perren, 2013). In a review of publications using the EU Kids Online data set, Görzig and Machackova (2016) reported that across 25 European countries, cyberbullying was higher in countries where internet usage as well as risky online activities were higher. ...
Bullying has been mostly studied in Western countries; however, research in other parts of the world has been catching up in recent years (Sittichai & Smith, 2015; Smith, Kwak, & Toda, 2016a; Zych, Ortega-Ruiz, & Del Rey, 2015). The phenomenon of bullying is pres-ent worldwide as demonstrated by cross-national surveys (e.g., Craig et al., 2009; Lian et al., 2018; Smith, López-Castro, Robinson, & Görzig, 2019a; Nansel, Craig, Overpeck, Saluja, & Ruan, 2004; Smith, Robinson, & Marchi, 2016b; Wachs, Jiskrova, Vazsonyi, Wolf, & Junger, 2016). In this chapter, we review the cultural aspects of bullying mainly reflected as cross-national differences in the research evidence. We describe the emergence of bullying research with a focus on cross-national differences and similarities. Then we briefly touch on the cross-national differences in prevalence rates as well as on the similari-ties in characteristics and consequences. We then examine cross-national differences in specific aspects of bullying and present a theoretical framework applying a socio-ecological perspective to identify different factors that may contribute to the cross-national differences in prevalence. Lastly, we acknowledge some methodological challenges that highlight where cross-national research findings for bullying need to be considered with caution.
http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/34260/1/34260-GORZIG-Cultural-factors-and-bullying-converted.pdf
... The protective effect of responsible decision-making on CBV was also observed in prior research (Zych et al., 2018). Past studies have elucidated the protective role of responsible decision-making in terms of ethical competence, moral reasoning (Müller et al., 2014), and rational behaviors (Cohen-Almagor, 2018). Specifically, students with higher responsible decision-making tend to be more conscious and ethical in their online actions (Cohen-Almagor, 2018), and are less likely to be the target of cyberbullying. ...
Although the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies in bullying prevention has received increased recognition, limited research has examined youth’s cyberbullying victimization (CBV) experiences through a school-wide SEL perspective. Guided by the school-wide SEL framework and the social-ecological model, this study examined the associations between students’ perception of four core SEL competencies (i.e., responsible decision-making, social awareness, self-management, and relationship skills), school climate, and their CBV experience. It also examined the multilevel moderating effects of students’ school climate perception, gender, and grade levels on the association between SEL competencies and CBV. Participants were 15,227 students (6th to 12th graders) from 39 schools in Delaware. Using hierarchical linear modeling while controlling for demographic factors and school climate at both student and school levels, we found that CBV was negatively associated with responsible decision-making and self-management, and positively associated with social awareness. The negative association between self-management and CBV was intensified with a more positive student-level school climate, whereas the negative association between responsible decision-making and CBV was mitigated by the school-level climate. The association of CBV and self-management was stronger among female than male students; the strength of CBV and responsible decision-making was also stronger among high school students than middle school students. The findings highlight the differentiated associations between four core SEL competencies and students’ CBV; they also indicate the importance of assessing and monitoring school climate and developing cyberbullying prevention programs with an SEL focus that is responsive to students of different genders and grade levels.
... This may be due to the fact that children are less aware of the potential consequences of sharing offensive content online, and less able to defend themselves against online attacks. In this sense, research supports that digital skills both prevent children from engaging in cyberbullying behaviouras they are more aware of their actionsand also protect them from the risk of becoming a victim when able to control the breadth and depth of information they share online about themselves (Müller et al., 2014). These findings are further supported by Gini and colleagues (2019), who found that ethical media use is negatively associated with cyberbullying others and being a victim of cyberbullying. ...
This report is based on further analysis of the EU Kids Online data collected across 19 European countries in 2017–19 (Smahel et al., 2020), and aims to identify the antecedents and consequences of digital skills among children. More specifically, in Section 3, "The antecedents of digital skills", we tested the relationship between individual characteristics (age and gender), social characteristics (socioeconomic status [SES] and parental mediation), country characteristics, information and communications technology (ICT) use and skills. In Section 4, "The consequences of digital skills", we examined the relations between skills, risks and opportunities. The report is aimed at outlining gaps in the evidence base and in our current knowledge of digital skills acquisition, in order to inform future research in this area.
... Although there is substantial agreement on many of these aspects, the literature on cyberbullying also evidences some important differences. Particularly, there are studies that identify cyberbullying exclusively as cyberaggression (e.g., Calvete, Orue, Estévez, Villardón, & Padilla, 2010) and other studies as cyber-victimization (e.g., Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014). However, when considering the cyberbullying phenomenon, there are not only aggressors or victims as the substantial characters but also the bully-victims, who are aggressors and victims at the same time (see Yang & Salmivalli, 2013). ...
In recent years, studies have extensively explored both personal and environmental predictors of cyberbullying. Among these predictors, parental monitoring and school climate were often expected to be associated with cyberbullying behaviors. However, little is known about the mediating mechanisms through which these relations may develop. The present study aimed to expand the current research by testing a theoretical model including the mediating role of moral disengagement in the relations between parental monitoring (including less collaborative vs. more collaborative strategies), school climate, and cyberbullying behaviors. Five hundred and seventy-one Italian adolescents (54.5% male) aged 14 to 20 years were recruited from high schools. Measures included demographics and parental monitoring, school climate, moral disengagement and cyberbullying scales. To test the hypothesized model, we estimated full and partial mediation models by structural equation modeling. Results showed negative indirect links of parental monitoring (but only the more collaborative strategies) and school climate with cyberbullying via moral disengagement. Less collaborative strategies of parental monitoring were neither directly nor indirectly related to cyberbullying. The findings revealed moral disengagement as an important process in explaining how ecological factors, such as parenting behaviors and school environments, are associate with cyberbullying. Limitations, strengths, and implications for practice are presented.
... Although there is substantial agreement on many of these aspects, the literature on cyberbullying also evidences some important differences. Particularly, there are studies that identify cyberbullying exclusively as cyberaggression (e.g., Calvete, Orue, Estévez, Villardón, & Padilla, 2010) and other studies as cyber-victimization (e.g., Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014). However, when considering the cyberbullying phenomenon, there are not only aggressors or victims as the substantial characters but also the bully-victims, who are aggressors and victims at the same time (see Yang & Salmivalli, 2013). ...
In recent years, studies have extensively explored both personal and environmental predictors of cyberbullying. Among these predictors, parental monitoring and school climate were often expected to be associated with cyberbullying behaviors. However, little is known about the mediating mechanisms through which these relations may develop. The present study aimed to expand the current research by testing a theoretical model including the mediating role of moral disengagement in the relations between parental monitoring (including less collaborative vs. more collaborative strategies), school climate, and cyberbullying behaviors. Five hundred and seventy-one Italian adolescents (54.5% male) aged 14 to 20 years were recruited from high schools. Measures included demographics and parental monitoring, school climate, moral disengagement and cyberbullying scales. To test the hypothesized model, we estimated full and partial mediation models by structural equation modeling. Results showed negative indirect links of parental monitoring (but only the more collaborative strategies) and school climate with cyberbullying via moral disengagement. Less collaborative strategies of parental monitoring were neither directly nor indirectly related to cyberbullying. The findings revealed moral disengagement as an important process in explaining how ecological factors, such as parenting behaviors and school environments, are associate with cyberbullying. Limitations, strengths, and implications for practice are presented.
... Risks and opportunities in the online environment are mostly synonymous; for instance spending more time online increases technical skills (Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014) but at the same time can increase the possibility of cybervictimization and cyberbullying (Hinduja & Patchin, 2008). ...
Young adulthood is an important development time period for humans where majority of them spend most of their time with technology. Which constitute all the millennials of whom are digital natives. Most of the people in this category pride themselves as tech-savvy and are so immersed in technology to the extent that drawing a boundary between offline and online is difficult if not impossible. This overconfidence most often than not leads this young people into committing risky behaviors online. Global research institute interested with children are now paying a very close attention when it comes to children’s right in the digital world. Whereas internet policy was design to suit adult internet users. leaving the young adult vulnerable. This research work explores the digital world of this young adults by conducting a mixed method research where open-ended questionnaires were given to 512 randomly selected undergraduate students of Near East University of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and an interview was conducted to 50 randomly selected students among the 512 for the purpose of data collection. With the aim of associate evidence with the continued global discourse regarding rights and wellbeing of people in the digital world with special focus on internet access, level of digital literacy, technological usage and applications, risk, vulnerabilities, mediation and other online habits. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS software version 20. The questionnaire shows high reliability with Cronbach alpha at 0.89. The result shows that young adults of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are conscious of their online behavior although majority confessed to not undergoing digital literacy classes. It was also noted that majority of the young adults accept friendship requests from everyone but will really agree to meet social media friends in real life. Majority of the respondents say they are conscious of what they share online and the data they gave but a significant number of them confess to vulgar chats.
... The selective application of moral standards would explain how the same abuse can be interpreted at times as a way of having fun and at other times as being deliberate aggression. This controversial form of dual reasoning may be motivated either by the detection of low levels of ethical competence (Müller et al., 2014) or by an attempt to avoid feeling guilty or accepting certain responsibilities (Sticca and Perren, 2015). The negative relationship that the adolescents in this study established between the social relationship criterion and the cyberbullying construct is evidence for the existence of certain imbalances in their moral reasoning. ...
Understanding the causes of adolescents' aggressive behavior in and through technological means and resources requires a thorough analysis of the criteria that they consider to be identifying and defining cyberbullying and of the network of relationships established between the different criteria. The present study has aimed at making a foray into the attempt to understand the underlying structures and mechanisms that determine aggressors' and victims' perceptions of the cyberbullying phenomenon. The sample consisted of 2148 adolescents (49.1% girls; SD = 0.5) of ages from 12 to 16 (M = 13.9; SD = 1.2). The data collected through a validated questionnaire for this study whose dimensions were confirmed from the data extracted from the focus groups and a CFA of the victim and aggressor subsamples. The analysis of the data is completed with CFA and the construction of structural models. The results have shown the importance and interdependence of imbalance of power and intention to harm in the aggressors' perceptual structure. The criteria of anonymity and repetition are related to the asymmetry of power, giving greater prominence to this factor. In its perceptual structure, the criterion “social relationship” also appears, which indicates that the manifestations of cyberbullying are sometimes interpreted as patterns of behavior that have become massively extended among the adolescent population, and have become accepted as a normalized and harmless way of communicating with other adolescents. In the victims' perceptual structure the key factor is the intention to harm, closely linked to the asymmetry of power and publicity. Anonymity, revenge and repetition are also present in this structure, although its relationship with cyberbullying is indirect. These results allow to design more effective measures of prevention and intervention closely tailored to addressing directly the factors that are considered to be predictors of risk.
... These differences in relation to the number of victims and perpetrators could derive from the fact that there is no consensus as to whether cyberbullying repetition should be taken as a characteristic. Accordingly, there are studies where the authors refer to the need to bear repetition in mind as a key factor as with -traditional-bullying (Ang, Huan, & Florell, 2014;Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014;Wachs, 2012;West, 2015), while other authors believe that with ICT it is impossible to know how often a video or web page, is viewed, copied and passed on to the others, so a victim can be humiliated time and again through a single act (Beckman, Hagquist, & Hellström, 2013;Frisén, Berne, & Lunde, 2014;Kowalski & Limber, 2013;Slonje, Smith, & Frisén, 2013). If you add to this the fact that a new questionnaire is often created for each study, and that the psychometric properties thereof vary (Berne et al., 2013), it is easily understood how many variations exist. ...
The fact that technologies have become a normal part of our lives has meant that bullying and other problems have shifted towards the virtual, hence complicating possible solutions. While before peer harassment occurred mainly at school, today Information and Communications Technology (ICT) means that children now have no place to “hide” from this problem. This and other features, like anonymity, have led many people to believe that this problem is more serious than traditional bullying. The purpose of this research was to determine the incidence of this phenomenon and its impact on students in compulsory secondary education in the Region of Murcia, specifically the prevalence of victimization and differences in relation to gender, age and academic year. One of the main results is that 49.3% of students have suffered from one or more cyberbullying behaviours. Greater victimization of females was observed in fourth of ESO and at higher ages (age ranges: 11-13; 14-15; 16-18). These results show the reality of secondary schools and the need to establish effective measures to solve this problem.
... The present meta-analysis review included empirical cyberbullying studies from 2004 to 2015 and found that the effect size for cyber victimization and depression increased as the years of publication became more recent (see Figure 1); however, no other effect size showed this trend. Previous studies from different countries have suggested that increased media use is a strong predictor of cyberbullying involvement (Hinduja & Patchin, 2008;Müller, Pfetsch, & Ittel, 2014;Peluchette, Karl, Wood, & Williams, 2015). From 2004 to 2015, popular social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their imitators were created one after the other and millions of teenagers all over the world have been using these applications in recent years (Consumer Reports, 2011), which has increased the risk of cyberbullying, which may explain the results in Figure 1. ...
Traditional bullying and cyberbullying have become serious worldwide issues. The meta-analysis in this article took a crosscultural perspective to explore whether there were any differences between the effects of cyber victimization and traditional
victimization on the presence of depression and anxiety in children and adolescents and to examine the effects of moderators in
explaining these differences/similarities. Fifty-six empirical studies (generating 148 independent samples) were included with a
total sample size of 214,819 participants. The results indicated that the effects of cyber victimization and the subtypes of traditional victimization on anxiety were significantly different, and there was a marginally significant difference for depression. The
moderating effects of country of origin were found to be significant for depression, with the mean effect size in North America
being significantly higher than in China and Europe, which suggested that culture was an important factor. The moderating effects
of age were also found to be significant for the relationships between traditional victimization and depression, traditional victimization and anxiety, cyber victimization and depression, and cyber victimization and anxiety. In addition, the effect size for cyber
victimization and depression has increased in more recent publication years
... De acuerdo a nuestros datos, casi la mitad ha sufrido algún tipo de conducta de ciberacoso, el cual es un dato superior al encontrado en otras investigaciones (Cappadocia et al., 2013;Giménez-Gualdo, Hunter, Durkin, Arnaiz y Maquilón, 2015;Müller et al., 2014;Waasdorp y Bradshaw, 2015), incluso superior al hallado en el estudio donde se utilizó el mismo cuestionario (Garaigordobil y Aliri, 2013). Además, los resultados muestran que los estudiantes han sufrido alguna de las 15 conductas evaluadas entre un 2.3 y un 27.2%. ...
La incorporación de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) a todos los aspectos de la vida ha conllevado una serie de ventajas, como es la facilidad para comunicarse con otros, pero también ha provocado que riesgos como el acoso escolar se realicen de forma sencilla a través de las redes. Este estudio tiene como objetivo conocer la prevalencia de víctimas de ciberacoso y analizar algunas herramientas que pueden ser factores de riesgo para esta problemática. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 950 adolescentes de educación secundaria obligatoria de la Región de Murcia. Los resultados muestran que un 6.3% de los participantes se pueden considerar víctimas de ciberacoso, aunque un 49.3% ha sufrido una o más de estas conductas. Los datos muestran que el hecho de tener un ordenador conectado a Internet en su propia habitación es un factor de riesgo de sufrir ciberacoso. De la misma forma, aquellos que se conectan a la red fuera de casa tienen más probabilidad de sufrir ciberacoso. Se discuten los resultados y se destaca la necesidad de medidas educativas para la prevención del ciberacoso.
... In particular, adolescents with low empathy tend to be more involved in cyberbullying (Ang and Goh 2010). However, young people who possess ethical media competence, e.g., socially responsible computer-mediated communication, are significantly less engaged in cyberbullying (Müller et al. 2014). In addition, parental monitoring and the regulation of Internet time and content were associated with reduced rates of online harassment as reported by adolescents (Khurana et al. 2015). ...
The growing proliferation of digital media over the past few decades has engendered both significant promise and significant concerns regarding children’s development. Digital media have changed the ways young people learn, interact with others, and develop essential cognitive and social-emotional skills. This paper provides school psychologists with a comprehensive literature review about the effects of digital media on various aspects of children’s functioning. It discusses the effects of digital media use on youth’s physical and mental health, attention, and cognition. It further highlights risks for young people’s cognitive functioning associated with multitasking and reviews the outcomes of reading on a screen vs. reading on paper. Special attention is given to the effects of digital media on youth’s social-emotional functioning, including relationships with others and identity formation, and socio-emotional risks such as cyberbullying and aggressive behaviors. School psychologists are provided with recommendations on how to incorporate information about digital media in their work with parents, educators, and youth in order to promote healthy digital media use.
... This behaviour establishes an imbalance of powers between the aggressor and the victim. Furthermore, recently several authors identify cyberbullying exclusively with cyber-aggression (Calvete, Orue, Estévez, Villardón & Padilla, 2010) or with cyber victimization (Müller, Pfetsch & Ittel, 2014), without giving attention to the dynamic existing between these roles. Also, criteria of intentionality, repetition and imbalance of powers takes place between victim and aggressor and sometimes are forgotten (Olweus, 2013). ...
The purpose of this study is to analyze the prevalence and association between victimization and substance use among the university population in the southeast of Spain in a sample of 543 randomly selected college students (405 females and 138 males with an average age of 22.6 years). As a cross-sectional study, data was collected through an anonymous survey to assess victimization and drug use over the last 12 months. Results indicated that 62.2% of college students reported bullying victimization and 82.9% consumed some type of psychoactive substance, and found a statistically significant association between both variables measured. Additionally, logistic regression analysis confirmed the association between psychoactive substance use and different types of victimization. Our findings confirm the need for prevention to prevent this relation between victimization and substance use.
... Unfortunately, the increased use of the Internet and social media often correlates with cyberbullying. 2,3 Although new social media applications are continually created, cyberbullying is likely here to stay and may even be on the rise. Though statistics on the prevalence of cyberbullying vary, surveys by Hinduja and Patchin from 2007 to 2014 found that around 25% of adolescents report a history of being cyberbullied and at least 16% report that they have cyberbullied others. ...
The aim of this article was to present a detailed analysis of the concept of cyberbullying. Research on the topic of cyberbullying is growing exponentially, but not all studies use the same definition to examine this concept. A concept analysis in the style of Walker and Avant was used to analyze cyberbullying. Literature was retrieved from the databases of CINAHL and PubMed between the years 2009 and October 2014 using the key word "cyberbullying." Twenty-five English-language articles were located that delineated a definition of cyberbullying. First, articles were analyzed to discover the defining attributes of cyberbullying. Second, antecedents, consequences, and related terms of cyberbullying were examined. Third, an operational definition of cyberbullying is proposed on the basis of a consensus of the review. This review proposes that the defining attributes of cyberbullying are: (1) electronic form of contact (2) an aggressive act (3) intent (4) repetition (publicity), and (5) harm of the victim. The antecedents most often mentioned were lower self-esteem, higher levels of depression, and social isolation and the consequences were academic problems and affective disorders. A single concise definition of cyberbullying was created that can be utilized by health care providers to educate their patients and families about cyberbullying. This definition also can be used to guide research to develop effective interventions.
Digital information gain, communication and entertainment through new media have become elementary parts of young people’s everyday lives. In 2018, series are the most popular media form of film presentation and the most popular entertainment medium amongst young people. Of the ten most popular series, eight can be found in the Netflix database, and five of them are Netflix’s own productions. It is striking that in all of these series, different forms of violence, usually depicted in a particularly explicit way, are integrated into the story and the course of the narrative. The phenomenon of the media’s portrayal of violence, aggression and suicide has been researched and controversially discussed for years, and is not only associated with more recent Netflix series. But why does medial film performance seem to offer such high entertainment value? And what influence do high-frequency depictions of violence and suicide exert on adolescent development and later bullying behaviour and consequences? In the following chapter, these questions will be analysed by looking at the underlying social and developmental psychological processes and research findings.
Purpose: Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a model that positively affects adolescents, particularly high school students. Adolescents experience physical and psychological changes that result in emotional and social-behavior difficulties. SEL improves academic performance, mental health problems, peer relationships, and family relationships. Responsible decision-making is one of the six fundamental skills of the SEL model and plays a crucial role. Methods: This study was founded on a literature review to examine the significance of responsible decision-making. Results: The study then provides a model of activities based on identifying and solving problems to assist students in developing their decision-making skills. Conclusion: The approach presented in this study is comprised of two primary activities: basic activity and practical activity; the study is also providing a seven-step procedure for problem-solving. Students are required to perform the content of the exercises following the instructions, and the implementation of these activities should be performed regularly to increase their effectiveness and competence in making decisions.
Cyberbullying is a major problem among our school-age population. The growing number of studies suggests that cyberbullying can often cause serious academic, emotional, social, and safety issues for its peer victims. The purpose of current study is to examine the nature of respondents' experience of cyberbullying and determine independently the impact of social learning and internet ethics on cyberbullying behavior among college students in Taiwan. The preliminary analysis is of a survey data collected from 359 undergraduate students in south of Taiwan through convenient sampling. The results of this study provide support for the hypotheses and explore the effect of social learning and perception of internet ethics on cyberbullying behavior among college students. Finding suggests that college students with lower level of social learning and with higher level of internet ethics will have less cyberbullying behavior than those with higher social learning and lower internet ethics.
Digitaler Informationsgewinn, Kommunikation und Unterhaltung durch neue Medien sind elementare Bestandteile des Alltags der Jugend geworden. Serien sind im Jahr 2018 beliebteste mediale Filmdarstellungsform und das beliebteste Unterhaltungsmedium von Jugendlichen. Von den zehn beliebtesten Serien sind acht in der Netflix Datenbank zu finden, und fünf davon Netflix Eigenproduktionen. Auffallend ist, dass in allen diesen Serien unterschiedliche Formen der Gewalt, meist auf besonders explizite Weise dargestellt, in die Geschichte und den Verlauf der Erzählung integriert sind. Das Phänomen medialer Inszenierung von Gewalt, Aggression und Suizid wird bereits seit Jahren erforscht und kontrovers diskutiert, und ist nicht nur mit modernen Netflix-Serien assoziiert. Aber warum scheint mediale Filmdarbietung so einen hohen Unterhaltungswert zu bieten? Und welchen Einfluss übt hochfrequente Darstellungen von Gewalt und Suizid auf die jugendliche Entwicklung und späteres Mobbingverhalten sowie Mobbingfolgen aus? Im folgenden Kapitel sollen diese Fragen durch sozial- und entwicklungspsychologische Prozesse und Forschungsergebnisse analysiert werden.
Uno de los problemas que actualmente más preocupan en los centros de Secundaria es el del acoso escolar y el ciberacoso. Este estudio cuantitativo tiene como objetivo conocer la situación actual del ciberacoso en centros de Secundaria de la Región de Murcia. Con un muestreo por conglomerados, se concretó una muestra representativa que finalmente estuvo compuesta por 950 estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. En este artículo vamos a profundizar en los aspectos relacionados con los ciberacosadores, su prevalencia y el uso que hacen de las tecnologías. Los resultados muestran que un 6.4% de los participantes se pueden considerar ciberacosadores, aunque un 23.3% ha realizado alguna de las conductas propias de los ciberacosadores. Además, se corrobora una conclusión obtenida en estudios previos sobre la importancia del control parental. Es importante conocer en profundidad estas conductas para poder diseñar estrategias de prevención en los centros escolares.
Digital media are wide spread, frequently used, and highly relevant in the lives of children, adolescents and their parents. Because parents aim to reduce or prevent potential risks of media use for their children, many parents apply different strategies of parental mediation of children’s media use: restrictive parental mediation, active parental mediation, co-media use, technical monitoring, and participatory learning. These forms of parental mediation have differential impact on children and adolescents. Different types of media (e. g. television, video games, internet, and mobile phones) have common features but also specific characteristics that lead to partially inconsistent research findings that are not only due to age differences of children and adolescents. Concerning an impact model of parental mediation, the current contribution presents overarching and divergent empirical findings, approaches the effectiveness of parental mediation for cyberbullying, and discusses practical implications as well as research gaps in the analysis of parental mediation.
Digitale Medien spielen im Alltag von Kindern und Jugendlichen sowie Eltern aufgrund der häufigen und regelmäßigen Nutzung eine wichtige Rolle. Um mögliche Risiken der Mediennutzung abzumildern und zu vermeiden, setzen Eltern unterschiedliche Strategien der Medienerziehung ein: restriktive Medienerziehung, aktive Medienerziehung, Co-Mediennutzung, technische Überwachung und partizipatives Lernen. Diese Formen elterlicher Medienerziehung unterscheiden sich in ihrer Wirkung auf Kinder und Jugendliche. Trotz inhaltlicher Überschneidungen liegen auch Besonderheiten bei unterschiedlichen Medienarten (z. B. Fernsehen, Computerspiele, Internet, Mobiltelefone) vor, die teilweise zu widersprüchlichen Forschungsergebnisse führen und nicht allein durch Altersunterschiede der Kinder und Jugendlichen zu erklären sind. Mit Bezug auf ein Wirkmodell elterlicher Medienerziehung stellt der Beitrag übergreifende und divergierende empirische Befunde zum Themenfeld dar, betrachtet die Wirksamkeit elterlicher Medienerziehung für Cyberbullying und benennt praktische Implikationen, aber auch Desiderate bisheriger Forschung zur elterlichen Medienerziehung.
https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/abs/10.13109/prkk.2018.67.2.110
Resumen: Uno de los problemas que actualmente más preocupan en los centros de Secundaria es el del acoso escolar y el ciberacoso. Este estudio cuantitativo tiene como objetivo conocer la situación actual del ciberacoso en centros de Secundaria de la Región de Murcia. Con un muestreo por conglomerados, se concretó una muestra representativa que finalmente estuvo compuesta por 950 estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. En este artículo vamos a profundizar en los aspectos relacionados con los ciberacosadores, su prevalencia y el uso que hacen de las tecnologías. Los resultados muestran que un 6.4% de los participantes se pueden considerar ciberacosadores, aunque un 23.3% ha realizado alguna de las conductas propias de los ciberacosadores. Además, se corrobora una conclusión obtenida en estudios previos sobre la importancia del control parental. Es importante conocer en profundidad estas conductas para poder diseñar estrategias de prevención en los centros escolares.
Abstract: Bullying and cyberbullying are current problems in Secondary Education about which people are worried. The aim of this quantitative research is to know the situation of cyberbullying in the Region of Murcia. The representative sample consisted of 950 students of compulsory secondary education. In this article we are going to analyse some aspects related to cyberbullies, their prevalence and the uses of some technologies that can be risk factors for this problem. The results show that 6.4% of the participants can be considered as cyberbullies, although 23.3% have committed one or more of this type of behaviours. Moreover, our study confirms the relevance of parents control to prevent ciberbullying, as other researches have previously founded. It is relevant the knowledge of these profiles to design strategies in order to prevent these situations in scholar institutions.
Cyberbullying research has repeatedly demonstrated that the frequency of media use is a cross-sectional risk factor of cyberbullying and cybervictimization. However, we do not yet know whether the frequency of media use is also a longitudinal risk factor or an outcome of cyberbullying and cybervictimization, or both. Thus, the present study examines the reciprocal associations between the frequency of media use, cyberbullying and cybervictimization over 15 months using a latent cross-lagged panel design. The participants were 1199 German school students aged 9–17 years (M = 12.01 years, SD = 1.68, 55% female). The frequency of media use, cyberbullying and cybervictimization, and the control variables traditional bullying, traditional victimization, sex and age were assessed with a self-report questionnaire. The results show that the frequency of media use does not predict cyberbullying and cybervictimization. However, cyberbullying and cybervictimization predict the frequency of media use from the third to the fourth measurement point. Consequently, the frequency of media use is not a longitudinal risk factor but rather an outcome of cyberbullying and cybervictimization at one point in time. This implies that cyberbullying prevention and intervention programs should not focus on the frequency but on the way media are used.
The dramatic increase in social media use has challenged traditional social structures and shifted a great deal of interpersonal communication from the physical world to cyberspace. Much of this social media communication has been positive: Anyone around the world who has access to the Internet has the potential to communicate with and attract a massive global audience. Unfortunately, such ubiquitous communication can be also used for negative purposes such as cyberbullying, which is the focus of this paper. Previous research on cyberbullying, consisting of 135 articles, has improved the understanding of why individuals—mostly adolescents—engage in cyberbullying. However, our study addresses two key gaps in this literature: (1) how the IT artifact fosters/inhibits cyberbullying and (2) why people are socialized to engage in cyberbullying. To address these gaps, we propose the social media cyberbullying model (SMCBM), which modifies Akers’ (2011) social structure and social learning (SSSL) model. Because Akers developed his model for crimes in the physical world, we add a rich conceptualization of anonymity composed of five sub-constructs as a key social media structural variable in SMCBM to account for the IT artifact. We tested the SMCBM with 1,003 adults who have engaged in cyberbullying. The empirical findings support the SMCBM. Heavy social media use combined with anonymity facilitates the social learning process of cyberbullying in social media in a way that fosters cyberbullying. Our results indicate new directions for cyberbullying research and implications for anti-cyberbullying practices.
This report summarizes the results of an ambitious three-year ethnographic study, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings—at home, in after school programs, and in online spaces. It offers a condensed version of a longer treatment provided in the book Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out (MIT Press, 2009). The authors present empirical data on new media in the lives of American youth in order to reflect upon the relationship between new media and learning. In one of the largest qualitative and ethnographic studies of American youth culture, the authors view the relationship of youth and new media not simply in terms of technology trends but situated within the broader structural conditions of childhood and the negotiations with adults that frame the experience of youth in the United States.
The book that this report summarizes was written as a collaborative effort by members of the Digital Youth Project, a three-year research effort funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California.
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Reports on Digital Media and Learning
Cyberbullying has emerged as a new form of antisocial behaviour in the context of online communication over the last decade. The present study investigates potential longitudinal risk factors for cyberbullying. A total of 835 Swiss seventh graders participated in a short-term longitudinal study (two assessments 6 months apart). Students reported on the frequency of cyberbullying, traditional bullying, rule-breaking behaviour, cybervictimisation, traditional victimisation, and frequency of online communication (interpersonal characteristics). In addition, we assessed moral disengagement, empathic concern, and global self-esteem (intrapersonal characteristics). Results showed that traditional bullying, rule-breaking behaviour, and frequency of online communication are longitudinal risk factors for involvement in cyberbullying as a bully. Thus, cyberbullying is strongly linked to real-world antisocial behaviours. Frequent online communication may be seen as an exposure factor that increases the likelihood of engaging in cyberbullying. In contrast, experiences of victimisation and intrapersonal characteristics were not found to increase the longitudinal risk for cyberbullying over and above antisocial behaviour and frequency of online communication. Implications of the findings for the prevention of cyberbullying are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Although the Internet has transformed the way our world operates, it has also served as a venue for cyberbullying, a serious form of misbehavior among youth. With many of today's youth experiencing acts of cyberbullying, a growing body of literature has begun to document the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of this behavior, but the literature is highly fragmented and lacks theoretical focus. Therefore, our purpose in the present article is to provide a critical review of the existing cyberbullying research. The general aggression model is proposed as a useful theoretical framework from which to understand this phenomenon. Additionally, results from a meta-analytic review are presented to highlight the size of the relationships between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, as well as relationships between cyberbullying and other meaningful behavioral and psychological variables. Mixed effects meta-analysis results indicate that among the strongest associations with cyberbullying perpetration were normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement, and the strongest associations with cyberbullying victimization were stress and suicidal ideation. Several methodological and sample characteristics served as moderators of these relationships. Limitations of the meta-analysis include issues dealing with causality or directionality of these associations as well as generalizability for those meta-analytic estimates that are based on smaller sets of studies (k < 5). Finally, the present results uncover important areas for future research. We provide a relevant agenda, including the need for understanding the incremental impact of cyberbullying (over and above traditional bullying) on key behavioral and psychological outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Measuring cyberbullying is complicated because there is a lack of reliable and validated instruments and an ongoing debate about adequate methodological approaches. Currently, there are two different approaches to measuring cyberbullying. One approach is to assess cyberbullying via the medium through which it is perpetrated (e.g. by asking about how often certain behaviors have been experiences or conducted in the internet, by e-mail, via mobile phone) and the other approach is to measure certain behavioral categories independent of the medium used (e.g. by asking about behaviors like outing or trickery, the use of someone else’s password, denigration). In this study, a questionnaire (The Berlin Cyberbullying-Cybervictimisation Questionnaire BCCQ) with 58 items using behavioral categories was developed based on the categories postulated by Willard (2007) (among others harassment, denigration and impersonation). 217 students (51.6% males, 48.4% females; aged averagely 12.88 years, SD = .83) from nine 7th and 8th grades took part in this paper-and-pencil type study which was conducted during normal school lessons. Simultaneously, an adaptation of the Chat Bully and Chat Victim scales by Katzer et al. (2009) was implemented for the purpose of comparison. It is expected, that cyberbullying can be assessed more specifically using the BCCQ and that different patterns of behavior can be identified. It is also hypothesized that reliable subscales can be identified using factor analyses and that the scales obtained will represent the original Willard categories.
A survey among 2052 primary and secondary school children reveals that cyberbullying among youngsters is not a marginal problem. However, there are discrepancies between the prevalence figures based on direct measurement versus indirect measurement of cyberbullying. Youngsters who have bullied someone via the internet or mobile phone during the last three months are younger, and are more often victims and bystanders of bullying via the internet or mobile phone, and are more often the perpetrators of traditional bullying. Youngsters who have been bullied via the internet or mobile phone during the last three months are more dependent upon the internet, feel less popular, take more internet-related risks, are more often a bystander and perpetrator of internet and mobile phone bullying, and are less often a perpetrator and more often a victim of traditional bullying. The implications for future research into cyberbullying and for cyberbullying prevention strategies are discussed.
Victimization on the Internet through what has been termed cyberbullying has attracted increased attention from scholars and practitioners. Defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text” (Patchin and Hinduja 200653.
Patchin , J. W. and
S. Hinduja . 2006 . “Bullies Move Beyond the Schoolyard: A Preliminary Look at Cyberbullying.” Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 4 ( 2 ): 148 – 169 . [CrossRef]View all references:152), this negative experience not only undermines a youth's freedom to use and explore valuable on-line resources, but also can result in severe functional and physical ramifications. Research involving the specific phenomenon—as well as Internet harassment in general—is still in its infancy, and the current work seeks to serve as a foundational piece in understanding its substance and salience. On-line survey data from 1,378 adolescent Internet-users are analyzed for the purposes of identifying characteristics of typical cyberbullying victims and offenders. Although gender and race did not significantly differentiate respondent victimization or offending, computer proficiency and time spent on-line were positively related to both cyberbullying victimization and offending. Additionally, cyberbullying experiences were also linked to respondents who reported school problems (including traditional bullying), assaultive behavior, and substance use. Implications for addressing this novel form of youthful deviance are discussed.
We investigated the co-occurrence of traditional bullying, cyberbullying, traditional victimization, and cybervictimization, and analyzed whether students belonging to particular groups of bullies (e.g., traditional, cyber, or both), victims (e.g., traditional, cyber, or both), and bully-victims differed regarding adjustment. Seven hundred sixty-one adolescents (49% boys) aged 14–19 years (M = 15.6 years) were surveyed. More students than expected by chance were totally uninvolved, more students were traditional bully-victims, and more students were combined bully-victims (traditional and cyber). The highest risks for poor adjustment (high scores in reactive and instrumental aggression, depressive, and somatic symptoms) were observed in students who were identified as combined bully-victims (traditional and cyber). In addition gender differences were examined.
With almost all German households owning mobile phones (99%), personal or laptop computers (99%), and having Internet access (96%) (MPFS, 2008), electronic media play a central role in children’s and adolescents’ lives in Germany and also pose a new venue for potentially harmful behavior and experiences such as cyberbullying. Here we report findings from a pilot study conducted in July 2007, designed to assess the quality of a number of measurement instruments for application in a later study with a larger sample of students, and to identify characteristics of cyberbullies and cybervictims to be targeted as potential risk and/or protective factors in a future study. We report on (1) the frequency of cyberbullying, also compared to traditional bullying, (2) the overlap between cyberbullying and cybervictimization, and (3) whether students involved in cyberbullying show less empathy and perspective taking and more relational aggression and social intelligence than students not involved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
An evaluation of the success of the evidence-based ConRed program, which addresses cyberbullying and other emerging problems linked with the use of the internet and seeks to promote a positive use of this new environment. The main aims of the ConRed program are a) to improve perceived control over information on the internet, b) to reduce the time dedicated to digital device usage, and c) to prevent and reduce cyberbullying. The impact of the program was evaluated with a quasi-experimental design with a sample of 893 students (595 experimental and 298 control). The results of the mixed repeated measures ANOVAs demonstrate that ConRed contributes to reducing cyberbullying and cyber-dependence, to adjusting the perception of information control, and to increasing the perception of safety at school.
Previous studies have confirmed that Facebook, the leading social networking site among young people, facilitates social connections among college students, but the specific activities and motives that foster social adjustment remain unclear. This study examined associations between patterns of Facebook activity, motives for using Facebook, and late adolescents' social adjustment to the college environment. Anonymous self-report survey data from 193 mostly European American students (M age = 20.32; 54 % female) attending a major Midwestern university indicated that motives and activity patterns were associated directly with social adjustment, but the association between one activity, status updating, and social adjustment also was moderated by the motive of relationship maintenance. Findings provide a more comprehensive portrait of how Facebook use may foster or inhibit social adjustment in college.
This study examined the relationships between cyber and traditional bullying experiences regarding gender differences. Also, the contributions of frequent and risky usage of internet to cyberbullying experiences were examined. The participants were 276 adolescents (123 females, 151 males and 2 unknown) ranging in age from 14 to 18 years. The results revealed that 32 percent of the students were victims of both cyber and traditional bullying, while 26 percent of the students bullied others in both cyber and physical environments. Compared to female students, male students were more likely to be bullies and victims in both physical and cyber-environments.The multivariate statistical analysis indicated that cyber and traditional bullying were related for male students but not for female students. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis revealed that both frequent and risky usage of internet account for a significant variance of cyberbullying but their contributions differ based on genders. © The Autho
The rationale for developing a theoretical model of computer-mediated communication (CMC) competence is established through review of social trends in the use of new media technologies. Special attention is paid to the role new media play in the formation and development of personal relationships. A model of CMC competence is then developed along the lines of motivation, knowledge, skills, context, and outcomes as a metaphorical typology for organizing existing CMC research. This research is reviewed as it informs, and is organized by, the model of CMC competence. A sampling of formal propositions resulting from the model is elaborated, and the results of preliminary pilot studies of the model are reviewed. The model is offered as a first step in examining individual differences in the domain of CMC relationships and media choice.
This study investigated the relationship between cognitive mechanisms, applied by people to rationalize and justify harmful acts,
and engagement in traditional peer and cyber aggression among school children. We examined the contribution of moral
disengagement (MD), hostile attribution bias, and outcome expectancies, and we further explored the individual contribution of
each MD mechanism. Our aim was to identify shared and unique cognitive factors of the two forms of aggression. Three hundred
and thirty-nine secondary school children completed self-report measures that assessed MD, hostile attribution bias, outcome
expectancies, and their roles and involvement in traditional and cyber aggression. We found that the MD total score positively
related to both forms of peer-directed aggression. Furthermore, traditional peer aggression positively related to children’s moral
justification, euphemistic language, displacement of responsibility and outcome expectancies, and negatively associated with hostile
attribution bias. Moral justification also related positively to cyber aggression. Cyber aggression and cyber victimization were
associated with high levels of traditional peer aggression and victimization, respectively. The results suggest that MD is a common
feature of both traditional and cyber peer aggression, but it seems that traditional forms of aggression demand a higher level of
rationalization or justification. Moreover, the data suggest that the expectation of positive outcomes from harmful behavior
facilitates engagement in traditional peer aggression. The differential contribution of specific cognitive mechanisms indicates the
need for future research to elaborate on the current findings, in order to advance theory and inform existing and future school
interventions tackling aggression and bullying.
[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 51(2) of Journal of Counseling Psychology (see record 2007-16897-001). On page 134, line 8, right column, under the heading Checklist for Evaluating Mediation Analyses Using Multiple Regression, the question incorrectly asks, "Was the relation between the predictor and the outcome (Path b) greater than or equal to the relation between the predictor and the mediator (Path a)?" The correct question is "Was the relation between the mediator and the outcome (Path b) greater than or equal to the relation between the predictor and the mediator (Path a)?"]
The goals of this article are to (a) describe differences between moderator and mediator effects; (b) provide nontechnical descriptions of how to examine each type of effect, including study design, analysis, and interpretation of results; (c) demonstrate how to analyze each type of effect; and (d) provide suggestions for further reading. The authors focus on the use of multiple regression because it is an accessible data-analytic technique contained in major statistical packages. When appropriate, they also note limitations of using regression to detect moderator and mediator effects and describe alternative procedures, particularly structural equation modeling. Finally, to illustrate areas of confusion in counseling psychology research, they review research testing moderation and mediation that was published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology during 2001. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)
Problematic internet use (PIU) is associated with a plethora of psychosocial adversities. The study objectives were to assess the determinants and psychosocial implications associated with potential PIU and PIU among adolescents.
A cross-sectional study design was applied among a random sample (n = 866) of Greek adolescents (mean age: 14.7 years). Self-completed questionnaires, including internet use characteristics, Young Internet Addiction Test, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, were utilized to examine the study objectives.
Among the study population, the prevalence rates of potential PIU and PIU were 19.4% and 1.5%, respectively. Multinomial logistic regression indicated that male gender (Odds Ratio, OR: 2.01; 95% Confidence Interval, 95% CI: 1.35-3.00), as well as utilizing the internet for retrieving sexual information (OR: 2.52; 95% CI: 1.53-4.12), interactive game playing (OR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.21-2.82), and socialization, including chat-room use (OR: 1.97; 95% CI: 1.36-2.86) and email (OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.05-2.24), were independently associated with potential PIU and PIU. Adolescents with potential PIU had an increased likelihood of concomitantly presenting with hyperactivity (OR: 4.39; 95% CI: 2.03-9.52) and conduct (OR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.46-4.50) problems. Moreover, adolescent PIU was significantly associated with hyperactivity (OR: 9.96; 95% CI: 1.76-56.20) and conduct (OR: 8.39; 95% CI: 2.04-34.56) problems, as well as comprehensive psychosocial maladjustment (OR: 8.08; 95% CI: 1.44-45.34).
The determinants of potential PIU and PIU include accessing the internet for the purposes of retrieving sexual information, game playing, and socialization. Furthermore, both potential PIU and PIU are adversely associated with notable behavioral and social maladjustment among adolescents.
Meta-analyses confirm a negative relationship between aggressive behavior and empathy, that is, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Based on theoretical considerations, it was, therefore, hypothesized that a lack of empathic responsiveness may be characteristic for cyberbullies in particular. In the present study, 2.070 students of Luxembourg secondary schools completed an online survey that included a cyberbullying questionnaire(4) and a novel empathy short scale. According to the main hypothesis, analyses of variances indicated that cyberbullies demonstrated less empathic responsiveness than non-cyberbullies. In addition, cyberbullies were also more afraid of becoming victims of cyberbullying. The findings confirm and substantially extend the research on the relationship between empathy and aggressive behavior. From an educational point of view, the present findings suggest that training of empathy skills might be an important tool to decrease cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying has been described as a type of electronic bullying and has recently been subjected to intense media scrutiny largely due to a number of high profile and tragic cases of teen suicide. Despite the media attention relatively little is known about the nature of cyberbullying. This is, at least in part, due to a lack of theoretical and conceptual clarity and an examination of the similarities and differences between cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying. This paper reviews the limited theoretical and empirical literature addressing both cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying, using some specific examples from a qualitative study for illustration. We compare and contrast individual factors common to cyber and face-to-face bullying. We then examine social information processing factors associated with face-to-face bullying and present a discussion of the similarities and differences that may characterize cyberbullying
This article describes what psychologists can do in cases of cyberbullying.
It is widely but incorrectly believed that the t-test and linear regression are valid only for Normally distributed outcomes. The t-test and linear regression compare the mean of an outcome variable for different subjects. While these are valid even in very small samples if the outcome variable is Normally distributed, their major usefulness comes from the fact that in large samples they are valid for any distribution. We demonstrate this validity by simulation in extremely non-Normal data. We discuss situations in which in other methods such as the Wilcoxon rank sum test and ordinal logistic regression (proportional odds model) have been recommended, and conclude that the t-test and linear regression often provide a convenient and practical alternative. The major limitation on the t-test and linear regression for inference about associations is not a distributional one, but whether detecting and estimating a difference in the mean of the outcome answers the scientific question at hand.
While online, some people self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely than they would in person. This article explores six factors that interact with each other in creating this online disinhibition effect: dissociative anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection, dissociative imagination, and minimization of authority. Personality variables also will influence the extent of this disinhibition. Rather than thinking of disinhibition as the revealing of an underlying "true self," we can conceptualize it as a shift to a constellation within self-structure, involving clusters of affect and cognition that differ from the in-person constellation.
Six schools were randomly assigned to a multilevel bullying intervention or a control condition. Children in Grades 3-6 (N=1,023) completed pre- and posttest surveys of behaviors and beliefs and were rated by teachers. Observers coded playground behavior of a random subsample (n=544). Hierarchical analyses of changes in playground behavior revealed declines in bullying and argumentative behavior among intervention-group children relative to control-group children, increases in agreeable interactions, and a trend toward reduced destructive bystander behavior. Those in the intervention group reported enhanced bystander responsibility, greater perceived adult responsiveness, and less acceptance of bullying/aggression than those in the control group. Self-reported aggression did not differ between the groups. Implications for future research on the development and prevention of bullying are discussed.
The increasing availability of Internet and cell phones has provided new avenues through which adolescents can bully. Electronic bullying is a new form of bullying that may threaten adolescent social and emotional development. In this study the relation between involvement in electronic and traditional bullying was examined. Eighty-four adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their involvement in traditional and electronic bullying. Results show that students' roles in traditional bullying predicted the same role in electronic bullying. Also, being a victim of bullying on the Internet or via text messages was related to being a bully at school. Traditional victims were not found to be electronic bullies. Perceptions of the effects of and motivations for electronic bullying are discussed.
Cyberbullying has recently emerged as a new form of bullying and harassment. 360 adolescents (12-20 years), were surveyed to examine the nature and extent of cyberbullying in Swedish schools. Four categories of cyberbullying (by text message, email, phone call and picture/video clip) were examined in relation to age and gender, perceived impact, telling others, and perception of adults becoming aware of such bullying. There was a significant incidence of cyberbullying in lower secondary schools, less in sixth-form colleges. Gender differences were few. The impact of cyberbullying was perceived as highly negative for picture/video clip bullying. Cybervictims most often chose to either tell their friends or no one at all about the cyberbullying, so adults may not be aware of cyberbullying, and (apart from picture/video clip bullying) this is how it was perceived by pupils. Findings are discussed in relation to similarities and differences between cyberbullying and the more traditional forms of bullying.
Bei medial vermittelter Kommunikation sinkt sowohl die Hemmschwelle für aggressive Verhaltensweisen wie Cyberbullying als auch die Wahrscheinlichkeit empathischer Reaktionen. Im Fokus der vorliegenden Studie mit 979 Schülerinnen und Schülern der 4.-8. Klassen (M = 12.01, SD = 1.68 Jahre, 55% weiblich) stand die Frage, ob Cyberbullies geringere Ausprägungen für affektive, kognitive und medienbasierte Empathie aufweisen als Unbeteiligte. Empathie wurde im Selbst- und Peerbericht erhoben. Hypothesenkonform zeigte sich, dass Cyberbullies weniger empathisch sind als Unbeteiligte. Allerdings waren die Ergebnisse für selbst- und peerberichtete Empathie nicht deckungsgleich. Bei kleinen, aber signifikanten Effekten scheint die Förderung von Empathie für die Prävention von Cyberbullying viel versprechend.
Schlagwörter: Selbstbericht, Peerbericht, Medienbasierte Empathie, Cyberbullying, Cyberviktimisierung
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This study examines the nature and extent of adolescents' cyberbullying experiences, and explores the extent to which various factors, including bullying, culture, and gender, contribute to cyberbullying and cyber victimisation in junior high schools. In this study, one in three adolescents was a cyber victim, one in five was a cyberbully, and over half of the students had either experienced or heard about cyberbullying incidents. Close to half of the cyber victims had no idea who the predators were. Culture and engagement in traditional bullying were strong predictors not only for cyberbullying, but also for cyber victimisation. Gender also played a significant role, as males, compared to their female counterparts, were more likely to be cyberbullies.
Impetus for the intervention, early stages of planning, and funding The first thing we should say about educational programmes against bullying in Spain is that, in the beginning, they ran up against the absence of information about the nature of bullying in our culture. Spanish schools, which are mainly public, have developed a very academic educational tradition that has left the aspects of social and emotional development to one side. They have taken little account of interpersonal relationships and the problems that arise within them (including bullying). Teachers were trained to focus their work on the teaching of basic disciplines, such as languages, sciences, or mathematics, within the compulsory education period from 6 to 14 years. As a result, neither our teachers nor our society had been sensitive to the interpersonal problems that we now recognise in our schools. In fact, theword bullying still does not have an accepted translation in our language. This has been one of the most serious problems that we have encountered: the need to explain to teachers and students what constitutes this type of violence, which some students can exercise over others. However, in recent years we have been attempting to develop a global education where socio-emotional aspects and concern for the world of interpersonal relationships have a place, even though this process is still unfinished.
This study examined variability in teachers' reported adherence to a school-based violence prevention program, Creating a Peaceful School Learning Environment, and investigated the relations of teacher adherence to teachers' attitudes related to the intervention and students' attitudes about and responses to bullying. The results provide evidence of variation in adherence among teachers and schools and that teachers' attitudes may have affected adherence. Prospective analyses demonstrated dose-effect relations of teacher adherence with students' attitudes about and responses to bullying, particularly their tendency to assist victims. Findings underscore the importance of assessing and promoting adherence for school-based programs, inform the use of self-report to assess teacher adherence, and provide evidence that teachers are important contributors to the success of school-based antibullying interventions.
Cyberbullying in the Global Playground provides the first global, in-depth analysis of the emerging phenomenon of cyberbullying. Offers the first thorough comparative account of recent research into the emerging global phenomenon of cyberbullying. Provides an international perspective on the prevalence and nature of cyberbullying. Presents recent authoritative research within a critical perspective, drawing out theoretical and practical implications for policy and practice. May be used to help design intervention, evaluation, and policy strategies for effective efforts to combat the international phenomenon of cyberbullying.
This research focuses on the evolving area of cyberviolence and draws on a pioneering study to discuss benefits and risks of online interaction among adolescent girls. This new area of inquiry introduces educators to the social and cultural communities of the Internet, a virtual venue with unique perspectives on power, identity, and gender for children and youth.This research focuses on the evolving area of cyberviolence and draws on a pioneering study to discuss benefits and risks of online interaction among adolescent girls. This new area of inquiry introduces educators to the social and cultural communities of the Internet, a virtual venue with unique perspectives on power, identity, and gender for children and youth.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether different aspects of morality predict traditional bullying and cyberbullying behaviour in a similar way. Students between 12 and 19 years participated in an online study. They reported on the frequency of different traditional and cyberbullying behaviours andcompleted self-report measures on moral emotions and moral values. A scenario approach with open questions was used to assess morally disengaged justifications. Tobit regressions indicated that a lack of moral values and a lack of remorse predicted both traditional and cyberbullying behaviour. Traditional bullying was strongly predictive for cyberbullying. A lack of moral emotions and moral values predicted cyberbullying behaviour even when controlling for traditional bullying. Morally disengaged justifications were only predictive for traditional, but not for cyberbullying behaviour. The findings show that moral standards and moral affect are important to understand individual differences in engagement in both traditional and cyberforms of bullying.
The article will focus on demonstrating the effects of values education on enhancing students’ academic diligence through the more positive ambience it creates in the school. Evidence will be drawn from international studies but principally from the Australian Government's Values Education Program and, especially from the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project Reports (2006, 2008) and the Project to Test and Measure the Impact of Values Education on Student Effects and School Ambience (2009).
A group randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of the Friendly Schools program to reduce student bullying behaviour. This socio‐ecological intervention targeted the whole school, classroom, family, and individual students to reduce bullying behaviour. Self‐report data were collected in 29 schools over three years from a cohort of 1968 eight to nine‐year‐olds. Surveys measured frequency of being bullied, bullying others, telling if bullied and observing bullying. Results indicate that intervention students were significantly less likely to observe bullying at 12, 24 and 36 months and be bullied after 12 and 36 months, and significantly more likely to tell if bullied after 12 months than comparison students. No differences were found for self‐reported perpetration of bullying. The findings suggest whole‐of‐school programs that engage students in their different social contexts appear to reduce their experiences of being bullied and increase their likelihood of telling someone if they are bullied
Traditional approaches to character education have been viewed by many educators as an attempt to establish self control within students to habituate them to prescribed behaviour and as nothing more than a ‘bits‐and‐pieces’ approach to moral education. While this is accurate for many character education programmes, integrated multi‐dimensional character education embraces both moral education and character formation. Students learn to identify and process social conventions within the core values of the school and community and have opportunities to learn practical reasoning skills in schools where character education is integrated into all aspects of the schooling process. Reported in this article are several studies, including two large‐scale experimental investigations, that show integrated character education results in an improved school environment, student pro‐social and moral behaviour, and reading and maths test scores. Schools become more caring communities; student discipline referrals drop significantly, particularly in areas related to bullying behaviour; and test scores in moderately achieving schools increase nearly 50%.
Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age provides the most current and essential information on the nature and prevalence of this epidemic. Examining the latest research, the authors have utilized vital studies involving over 3,500 middle school students, online research projects and the use of social network sites, and data from focus groups of victims and perpetrators and their parents. Written in an accessible style, this volume provides educators, parents, psychologists, and policy-makers with critical prevention techniques and strategies for effectively addressing electronic bullying. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Media literacy education involves cognitive processes used in critical thinking. Media workshops and curricula emphasize moral values (the defensive, inoculation approach), discriminating responsiveness (the critical viewer), antimedia resistance, and consumer revolution. Inductive media literacy programs promote independent critical thinking. Media content is a limited predictor of potential effects of media exposure. Meaning is situated in what audiences bring to their media experience (selective perception), the context in which they use media (accommodation), and how and why they use the medium (use and gratifications). To succeed, a curricular program of media literacy requires collaboration among teachers, administrators, specialists, and parents.
This research focuses on the evolving area of cyberviolence and draws on a pioneering study to discuss benefits and risks of online interaction among adolescent girls. This new area of inquiry introduces educators to the social and cultural communities of the Internet, a virtual venue with unique perspectives on power, identity, and gender for children and youth.
Several longitudinal studies and meta-analytic reviews have demonstrated that exposure to violent media is linked to aggression over time. However, evidence on effective interventions to reduce the use of violent media and promote critical viewing skills is limited. The current study examined the efficacy of an intervention designed to reduce the use of media violence and aggression in adolescence, covering a total period of about 12 months. A sample of 683 7th and 8th graders in Germany (50.1% girls) were assigned to two conditions: a 5-week intervention and a no-intervention control group. Measures of exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior were obtained about 3 months prior to the intervention (T1) and about 7 months post-intervention (T2). The intervention group showed a significantly larger decrease in the use of violent media from T1 to T2 than the control group. Participants in the intervention group also scored significantly lower on self-reported aggressive behavior (physical aggression and relational aggression) at T2 than those in the control group, but the effect was limited to those with high levels of initial aggression. This effect was mediated by an intervention-induced decrease in the normative acceptance of aggression. No gender differences in program efficacy were found. The results show that a 5-week school-based intervention can produce changes in the use of media violence, aggressive norms, and behaviors sustained over several months.
American youth are awash in media. They have television sets in their bedrooms, personal computers in their family rooms, and digital music players and cell phones in their backpacks. They spend more time with media than any single activity other than sleeping, with the average American eight- to eighteen-year-old reporting more than six hours of daily media use. The growing phenomenon of "media multitasking"--using several media concurrently--multiplies that figure to eight and a half hours of media exposure daily. Donald Roberts and Ulla Foehr examine how both media use and media exposure vary with demographic factors such as age, race and ethnicity, and household socioeconomic status, and with psychosocial variables such as academic performance and personal adjustment. They note that media exposure begins early, increases until children begin school, drops off briefly, then climbs again to peak at almost eight hours daily among eleven- and twelve-year-olds. Television and video exposure is particularly high among African American youth. Media exposure is negatively related to indicators of socioeconomic status, but that relationship may be diminishing. Media exposure is positively related to risk-taking behaviors and is negatively related to personal adjustment and school performance. Roberts and Foehr also review evidence pointing to the existence of a digital divide--variations in access to personal computers and allied technologies by socioeconomic status and by race and ethnicity. The authors also examine how the recent emergence of digital media such as personal computers, video game consoles, and portable music players, as well as the media multitasking phenomenon they facilitate, has increased young people's exposure to media messages while leaving media use time largely unchanged. Newer media, they point out, are not displacing older media but are being used in concert with them. The authors note which young people are more or less likely to use several media concurrently and which media are more or less likely to be paired with various other media. They argue that one implication of such media multitasking is the need to reconceptualize "media exposure."
To examine the relationship between different Internet-use intensities and adolescent mental and somatic health.
Data were drawn from the 2002 Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health, a nationally representative survey of adolescents aged 16 to 20 years in post-mandatory school. From a self-administered anonymous questionnaire, 3906 adolescent boys and 3305 girls were categorized into 4 groups according to their intensity of Internet use: heavy Internet users (HIUs; >2 hours/day), regular Internet users (RIUs; several days per week and ≤ 2 hours/day), occasional users (≤ 1 hour/week), and non-Internet users (NIUs; no use in the previous month). Health factors examined were perceived health, depression, overweight, headaches and back pain, and insufficient sleep.
In controlled multivariate analysis, using RIUs as a reference, HIUs of both genders were more likely to report higher depressive scores, whereas only male users were found at increased risk of overweight and female users at increased risk of insufficient sleep. Male NIUs and female NIUs and occasional users also were found at increased risk of higher depressive scores. Back-pain complaints were found predominantly among male NIUs.
Our study provides evidence of a U-shaped relationship between intensity of Internet use and poorer mental health of adolescents. In addition, HIUs were confirmed at increased risk for somatic health problems. Thus, health professionals should be on the alert when caring for adolescents who report either heavy Internet use or very little/none. Also, they should consider regular Internet use as a normative behavior without major health consequence.
The Internet has become all pervasive in the lives of young people and this paper will review studies that examine the risks and opportunities that it affords. We will examine research that investigates the more negative aspects of youth online behavior such as addiction as well as online risks such as harassment/cyber bullying and sexual solicitation. In addition, positive aspects of Internet use such as its potential for learning and enhancing social relations as well as delivering health interventions will be examined.
The results show that online risks such as addiction, cyber bullying, and sexual solicitation are associated with negative consequences for youth. It is important to note that not all children are equally susceptible and more research is necessary to identify the youth most at risk as well as to develop effective interventions. The Internet can also provide benefits in the areas of cognitive, social, and physical development, and can also be used to deliver treatment interventions.
The Internet represents both risks and opportunities for young people. To protect youth who are at risk for online addiction, bullying, and solicitation, we need more research to understand which youth may be most susceptible and to develop targeted interventions to protect them. The Internet also has many positive aspects and can be used to enhance youth learning and empowerment; although it is a tremendous health resource and can be used to cheaply deliver interventions, we need to understand how to better implement them to enhance their effectiveness.
While most youth report positive experiences and activities online, little is known about experiences of Internet victimization and associated correlates of youth, specifically in regards to Internet harassment.
The Youth Internet Safety Survey is a cross-sectional, nationally representative telephone survey of young regular Internet users in the United States. Interviews were conducted between the fall of 1999 and the spring of 2000 and examined characteristics of Internet harassment, unwanted exposure to sexual material, and sexual solicitation that had occurred on the Internet in the previous year. One thousand, five hundred and one regular Internet users between the ages of 10 and 17 years were interviewed, along with one parent or guardian. To assess the characteristics surrounding Internet harassment, four groups of youth were compared: 1) targets of aggression (having been threatened or embarrassed by someone; or feeling worried or threatened by someone's actions); 2) online aggressors (making rude or nasty comments; or harassing or embarrassing someone with whom the youth was mad at); 3) aggressor/targets (youth who report both being an aggressor as well as a target of Internet harassment); and 4) non-harassment involved youth (being neither a target nor an aggressor online).
Of the 19% of young regular Internet users involved in online aggression, 3% were aggressor/targets, 4% reported being targets only, and 12% reported being online aggressors only. Youth aggressor/targets reported characteristics similar to conventional bully/victim youth, including many commonalities with aggressor-only youth, and significant psychosocial challenge.
Youth aggressor/targets are intense users of the Internet who view themselves as capable web users. Beyond this, however, these youth report significant psychosocial challenge, including depressive symptomatology, problem behavior, and targeting of traditional bullying. Implications for intervention are discussed.
Adolescents' access to and use of new media technology (e.g., cell phone, personal data assistant, computer for Internet access) are on the rise, and this explosion of technology brings with it potential benefits and risks. Attention is growing about the risk of adolescents to become victims of aggression perpetrated by peers with new technology. In September 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened a panel of experts in technology and youth aggression to examine this specific risk. This special issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health presents the data and recommendations for future directions discussed at the meeting. The articles in the Journal support the argument that electronic aggression is an emerging public health problem in need of additional prevalence and etiological research to support the development and evaluation of effective prevention programs.