The Overlap Between Cyberbullying and Traditional Bullying

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.12.002

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 56, Issue 5, May 2015, Pages 483-488

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.12.002 Get rights and content

Highlights

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23% were victims of any form of bullying (cyber, relational, physical, and verbal).
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4.6% of victims reported being only cyberbullied.
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Cyberbullied youth typically believed the perpetrator was a friend.
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Cyberbullied youth had increased odds of being relationally bullied.
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Cyberbullied youth had increased odds for externalizing and internalizing symptoms.

Abstract

Purpose

Cyberbullying appears to be on the rise among adolescents due in part to increased access to electronic devices and less online supervision. Less is known about how cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying which occurs in person and the extent to which these two forms overlap. Our first aim was to examine the overlap of traditional bullying (relational, verbal, and physical) with cyberbullying. The second aim examined student- and school-level correlates of cyber victimization as compared to traditional victims. The final aim explored details of the cyberbullying experience (e.g., who sent the message, how was the message sent, and what was the message about).

Methods

Data came from 28,104 adolescents (grades, 9–12) attending 58 high schools.

Results

Approximately 23% of the youth reported being victims of any form of bullying (cyber, relational, physical, and verbal) within the last month, with 25.6% of those victims reporting being cyberbullied. The largest proportion (50.3%) of victims reported they were victimized by all four forms, whereas only 4.6% reported being only cyberbullied. Multilevel analyses indicated that as compared to those who were only traditionally bullied, those who were cyberbullied were more likely to have externalizing (odds ratio = 1.44) and internalizing symptoms (odds ratio = 1.25). Additional analyses examined detailed characteristics of the cyberbullying experiences, indicating a relatively high level of overlap between cyber and traditional bullying.

Conclusions

Implications for preventive interventions targeting youth involved with cyberbullying and its overlap with other forms of bullying are discussed.

Section snippets

Cyberbullying

Certain characteristics of cyberbullying make it functionally different from traditional bullying [9]. Although cyberbullying may be repeated over time, a single incident can be repeated if the e-mail is forwarded to multiple people or posted online and viewed by multiple people. Furthermore, the ability to be anonymously online [7] and the possibility that those who are not socially influential can be technologically savvy shift the notion of power [8]. However, traditional bullying and

Participants

Data came from 28,104 adolescents enrolled in grades 9–12 (mean age, 15.93 years; standard deviation, 1.33) at 58 Maryland high schools that are participating in a statewide study of school climate, called the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools (MDS3) Initiative. Data were collected in spring 2012 via a Web-based survey; approximately 24.83 classrooms per school (mostly language arts) were randomly selected to participate in the data collection. See Table 1 for additional sample

Results

Gender, grade, and race/ethnicity differences in reports of victimization were examined. Girls were more likely to report being a cyber (odds ratio [OR] = .49), relational (OR = .51), and verbal victim (OR = .69), whereas boys were more likely to report being a victim of physical bullying than girls (OR = 1.21; see Table 3). Youth in the 9th and 10th grades were more likely to be victims of relational (OR = .76), physical (OR = .70), and verbal bullying (OR = .69) than youth in the 11th and

Discussion

With the growing use of the Internet and cell phones among adolescents [23], it is not surprising that youth are also using these tools to harm each other [2]. We first considered the potential role of demographic characteristics, and found that, girls reported more cyber victimization than boys. This finding may be explained in part by adolescent girls' increased use of cell phones than boys [24], and increased utilization of electronic media is linked with increased likelihood of reporting

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Maryland State Department of Education and Sheppard Pratt Health System for this support of this project through the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools Initiative.

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Original articleThe Overlap Between Cyberbullying and Traditional Bullying

Highlights

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Cyberbullying

Participants

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgments

J Adolesc Health

Comput Human Behav

Comput Human Behav

J Adolesc

J Sch Psychol

Comput Human Behav

J Adolesc Health

J Adolesc Health

J Adolesc Health

Child Youth Serv Rev

Bullying surveillance among youths: Uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements, version 1.0

Cyber bullying behaviors among middle and high school students

Am J Orthopsychiatry

Traditional bullying as a potential warning sign of cyberbullying

Sch Psychol Int

Electronic and school-based victimization: Unique contexts for adjustment difficulties during adolescence

J Youth Adolesc

Has cyber technology produced a new group of peer aggressors?

Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw

Bullying at school

Examining student responses to frequent bullying: A latent class approach

J Educ Psychol

Principles of cyberbullying research: Definitions, measures, and methodology

A latent class approach to examining forms of peer victimization

J Educ Psychol

Measuring school climate: A focus on safety, engagement, and the environment

J Sch Health

Original article
The Overlap Between Cyberbullying and Traditional Bullying