The aim of this thesis is to study the differences between traditional bullying and cyberbullying among adolescents, focusing on gender, psychosomatic problems, and disability, and to gain insight into health staff’s experience of bullying in schools. The four studies in this thesis were based on surveys undertaken among 3,800 adolescents in Grades 7, 8 and 9 in Sweden, as well as focus groups of 16 people consisting of school social workers and school nurses. While almost no gender differences were found among traditional victims, Study I showed that girls were more likely than boys to be cybervictims. Boys were more likely than girls to be traditional bullies, while girls were equally as likely as boys to be cyberbullies. Study II showed that psychosomatic problems were associated with being a victim, a bully or a bully-victim. Cyberbullying showed no stronger association with psychosomatic problems than traditional bullying. Study III: Three main categories emerged from school health staff’s experience: 1) “Anti-bullying team”; 2) “Working style”; and 3) “Perspectives on bullying”. The last two each comprised two sub-categories: “Team member”/“Single worker”; and “Contextual perspective”/“Individual-oriented perspective”. Study IV showed that, regardless of gender and grade, students with a disability were more likely to be bully-victims and, more particularly, bully-victims involved in both traditional bullying and cyberbullying. No differences between disabled adolescents and others were found with respect to the association between bullying and psychosomatic health. The results show that some adolescents are more likely to experience higher levels of psychosomatic health problems than others. They also show that some adolescents are more likely to be involved in bullying, either as victims, bullies or bully-victims. This thesis also discusses contextual and individual approaches adopted by schools in preventing bullying. / <p>Article 4 was in manuscriptform at the time of the thesis defense.</p>

After an extensive literature review, results indicated research has been conducted examining the links between traditional bullying and suicide, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning (LGBTQ) identification and cyberbullying, as well as LGBTQ identification and suicide. However, it appears as though there is a dearth of studies examining the link between young adults identifying as LGBTQ who have experienced cyberbullying and the subsequent suicidal behaviors. The following research study attempts to answer the question of whether cyberbullying mediates the relationship between cyberbullying and suicidal behaviors. / School of Education / School Psychology / PhD / Dissertation

As technology advances, it appears that the adolescent age group is becoming more aligned with the various forms of communication that are available such as cell phones with texting, instant messaging on the Internet, as well as social networking websites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Bullying with these forms of communication technology has become known as Cyberbullying (Li, 2006). Communication technology use across Canada has been steadily increasing over the past few decades (Statistics Canada, 2010). With this increase, it is not surprising that adolescents are increasing the amount of time that they spend with communication technology (i.e. cell phones and Internet) whether it is school related use or socializing. Communication technology makes it more difficult for victims of cyberbullying to avoid the bullying and potentially increases the side effects that a victim may feel. This study explored how adolescents experience cyberbullying. More specifically, in order to set the context for the study, it was explored how adolescents use communication technology (i.e. internet, cell phone, etc.) and whether there are differences between genders. Then, with specific focus on cyberbullying, how adolescents respond to the cyberbullying experience (as victim or perpetrator) and what views or attitudes adolescents had regarding cyberbullying were explored. Anonymous questionnaires regarding cyberbullying and student life satisfaction were completed by 334 students in Grade 11 and 12 in a southern Saskatchewan high school. Approximately 33 percent of participants indicated being a victim of cyberbullying, 20 percent reported cyberbullying others, and almost 60 percent witnessed cyberbullying. Females reported experiencing stronger feelings in response to being cyberbullied than males and also felt more guilt than males when cyberbullying others. Those females who had experienced cyberbullying victimization tended to hold more negative attitudes towards cyberbullying (i.e., thinking cyberbullying is harmful) than males. Males who tended to bully others more frequently tended to have more positive attitudes toward cyberbullying (i.e., thinking cyberbullying was a normal part of adolescence) than females. Participants also offered potential solutions on how to stop cyberbullying that included increasing education and awareness as well as using blocking and privacy features of Internet devices. Other findings indicate that participants who were not involved in cyberbullying, either as a victim or cyberbully, were more likely to report higher levels of life satisfaction than those involved in cyberbullying.

Over the past 10 years, internet use has become an integral part of adolescent socialization. Teenagers use the internet to communicate with known others as well as with strangers. They engage in online entertainment in the form of gaming and surfing the web. While adolescents mainly use the internet to maintain pre-existing friendships, some adolescents make close friendships online. They also encounter negativity online in the form of cyberbullying. Despite the pervasiveness of internet use, relatively little is known about long-term effects of internet activities on adolescent psycho-social adjustment. This group of studies aimed to identify change over time associated with various aspects of internet use. First, the long-term associations between different internet-based activities and adolescent social relationships were identified. Second, the differences between adolescents who form close internet-based friendships and those who do not were examined. Finally, the importance of internet-based bullying was identified. Overall, results suggest that while some internet-based activities are associated with increased positive effects, some internet activities are also associated with negative outcomes over the long term. Having close online friends as part of one’s peer group is associated with negative psychosocial factors. Cyberbullying was identified as a form of bullying that is associated with many important outcomes. The implications of these findings call for an increase in monitoring, involving not only supervision but direct communication, of adolescents’ internet activities, and increased communication in families about internet use. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2008-08-27 21:52:03.178

This mixed method study examined perceptions and experiences of secondary school administrators in Texas regarding cyberbullying. It was designed to gather quantitative information related to cyberbullying in secondary school campuses in Texas as well as descriptive details from the qualitative portion of the survey and follow up interviews. Data were collected from an electronic survey and follow up interviews. The results were analyzed statistically and for emerging themes. Six themes emerged from the qualitative survey questions and interviews. These themes were: 1) common definitions and descriptions, 2) target on individuals, 3) effect on school climate, 4) speed of replication and permanence of information, 5) difference between public and private information, and 6) need for education. The perception from secondary school administrators was that cyberbullying incidents are appearing in the majority of secondary schools in Texas and it is important for administrators to understand and respond to cyberbullying.

This study addressed the extent to which offensive cyberbullying content exists on Facebook and the extent to which bystanders that view cyberbullying content reported increased levels of hostile affect. Experiment 1 identified 200 open Facebook groups that contained offensive cyberbullying content. Group composition, in terms of group membership and participation, and the content within the groups, in terms of the number and content of posts, were analysed for gender differences and severity of content. Results from Experiment 1 highlighted the visibility of offensive cyberbullying material that is accessible to any member of the Facebook community. Given the prevalence for such content, Experiment 2 was designed to identify the extent to which exposure to cyberbullying content on Facebook would increase levels of state hostility (i.e., hostile affect), while also examining gender differences and controlling for trait hostility. Participants were presented with Facebook screenshots that contained either offensive or neutral Facebook screenshots and were asked to respond to questionnaires via self-reporting methods. Results indicated that exposure to offensive content led to an increase in levels of state hostility, particularly in those who had previously reported higher levels of trait hostility. Taken together, these findings suggest that not only is offensive material perpetrating cyberbullying behaviour prevalent and accessible to any Facebook member, but bystanders who view offensive cyberbullying content have the tendency to respond with increased levels of hostile affect post-exposure.

The primary aim of the current study was to examine cyberbullying and risk taking behaviours in adolescents and their relation to parenting styles. Research aims included examining the prevalence of cell phone ownership, and the development of a parenting scale to assess modern parenting patterns, such as Helicopter and Uninvolved. Adolescents (n = 85) aged 13-16 years from a range of secondary schools, and their parents (n = 58), were assessed on measures of cyberbullying, risk taking behaviour and parenting. Results indicated that the majority of adolescents own or have access to a cell phone and predominantly use it to contact friends. Support was found for the proposed parenting scale, assessing Helicopter and Uninvolved parenting. Further examination of parenting styles within the current sample indicated that Authoritative parenting was the most common parenting style. The current study found that 98% of adolescents engaged in one or more cyberbullying behaviours with an average frequency of 17 times per month. Written-Verbal forms of cyberbullying were found to be the most common type. Cyberbullying was found to be associated with the time per day spent on a cell phone, household annual income, age, parental employment and risk taking behaviours. Results also indicated that 72% of adolescents engaged in one or more risk taking behaviours, with the average frequency of three per month. Authoritative parenting was found to predict lower levels of cyberbullying, while Permissive parenting predicted higher levels of risk taking behaviour. The findings that parenting styles are predictive of cyberbullying and risk taking behaviour may have important implications for the advocacy of appropriate parenting practices through imparting advice, knowledge and support to families and ensuring early intervention, support and monitoring, to safeguard the well-being of adolescents.

This study intended to bridge the gap in research on cyberbullying intervention strategies by examining the personal experiences of survivors in order to identify effective coping strategies. This study used a grounded theory methodology to allow data to fully emerge from participants’ perspectives. When analyzing the data, the researcher found that individuals activated coping strategies in response to the negative feelings and thoughts that cyberbullying caused. This main theme, survival strategies, was augmented by three supporting themes: internal characteristics, external influences on internal feelings, and environmental factors. These supporting themes either positively or negatively influenced adolescents’ survival strategies. As a result of this survival process, individuals ultimately became stronger as a result of their inner resilience. The findings of this study have highlighted effective coping strategies that may help to inform future counselling practices.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.