عوامل خطر برای دخالت در زورگویی سایبری: قربانیان، زورگو و زورگو-قربانیان

Abstract Objectives The purpose of the current study was to examine the frequency of cyber bullying among youth by distinguishing among the three categories of involvement in cyber bullying: victims, bullies, and bully–victims, to compare these to a fourth category of students who are not involved in the three categories of cyber bullying and to explore the factors that contribute to involvement in cyber bullying. Method This study utilized a large and diverse sample of 2186 middle and high school students, who completed self report questionnaires during class time. We performed a Multinomial Logistic Regression to examine the relationship between the cyber bullying categories and our independent variables (gender, age, technology use, parental involvement and safety).

1. Introduction Evidence indicates that 98% of Canadian youth access the Internet and communication technologies on a daily basis (e.g., social networking sites, instant messages) (Cassidy et al., 2009 and Mishna et al., 2010). Similarly, 93% of American youth between the ages of 12 to 17 go online occasionally, and nearly two thirds (63%) go online daily (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zichuhr, 2010). Three of four American teenagers own a cell phone, with 88% of these individuals text messaging (Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, & Purcell, 2010). The cyber world provides young people with unprecedented opportunities for communication with others both in and out of their existing face-to-face social networks (Cassidy et al., 2009, Gross, 2004, Lenhart and Madden, 2007 and Mishna et al., 2010) and with unparalleled opportunities for learning and self-exploration (Blais et al., 2008 and Brown et al., 2006). Despite the many benefits of cyber interactions such as social support, identity exploration, and cross-cultural interactions (Jackson et al., 2006 and Valkenburg and Peter, 2007), there are risks for youth, in particular the risk of bullying involvement (Berson et al., 2002 and Gasser et al., 2010), as youth spend more time online than ever before (Li, 2007 and Shariff, 2009). Students who are cyber bullied report feeling sad, anxious, afraid and unable to concentrate on school (Beran and Li, 2005 and Juvonen and Gross, 2008) and may report social difficulties, drug and alcohol use, and eating disorders (Dehue et al., 2008, Fosse and Holen, 2006 and Ybarra and Mitchell, 2007). Victimized youth are more likely to skip school (Wolak et al., 2006 and Ybarra et al., 2007), to have detentions or suspensions, or to take a weapon to school (Mitchell, Ybarra, & Finkelhor, 2007). Youth who cyber bully are likely to engage in rule-breaking and to have problems with aggression (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2007). A longitudinal study found that involvement in cyber bullying as perpetrator or as victim affects the wellbeing of youth, over and above traditional bullying. More specifically, perpetrating online bullying predicted a significant increase in substance use whereas online victimization predicted decreased quality of life related to sense of wellbeing and belonging (Blais, 2008). Cyber bullying often occurs in the context of social relationships (Hoff and Mitchell, 2008, Mishna et al., 2009b and National Children's Home, 2002) which challenges the commonly held assumption that it is anonymous (Hinduja and Patchin, 2008, Hinduja and Patchin, 2009, Kowalski and Limber, 2007 and Shariff, 2009) and is consistent with understanding bullying as a relationship issue (Craig & Pepler, 2007). Previous research found that one quarter of cyber bullying occurs in the presence of witnesses (Mishna et al., 2010) corresponding with evidence that most traditional bullying occurs in the presence of peers who play key roles (Atlas and Pepler, 1998 and Craig and Pepler, 2007). The possible number of online observers is unlimited (Kowalski & Limber, 2007). Long considered a school-based problem (Craig & Pepler, 2008), electronic communication tools have extended bullying into the realm of the cyber world. There is not a universally accepted definition of cyber bullying however, or a strong theoretical model for how this phenomenon compares with traditional bullying. Both are necessary to establish (Vaillancourt et al., 2008 and Vandebosch and Van Cleemput, 2008). Still, several definitions and elements have been used in order to study the phenomenon. Similar to traditional bullying, cyber bullying has been defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009, p. 5) towards another. What makes cyber bullying distinct is the use of electronic communication technology as the means through which to threaten, harass embarrass, or socially exclude (Hinduja and Patchin, 2009, Patchin and Hinduja, 2006 and Williams and Guerra, 2007). Cyber bullying can encompass the use of an electronic medium to sexually harass (Hinduja and Patchin, 2008 and Shariff and Johnny, 2007), including distributing unsolicited text or photos of a sexual nature or requesting sexual acts either online or offline (Schrock & Boyd, 2008). What constitutes repetition in cyber bullying is complex. As it occurs in the public domain (Wendy Craig, personal communication, February 25, 2009), by its very nature cyber bullying involves repetition because material such as email, text, or pictures can be viewed far and wide, can be distributed not only by the perpetrator but by anyone who has access (Campbell, 2005 and Slonje and Smith, 2008), and can be difficult or indeed impossible for the victimized child or youth to remove (Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2007). There is increasing research and academic literature devoted to this new form of bullying (Berson et al., 2002, Hinduja and Patchin, 2009 and Lenhart and Madden, 2007; Wolak et al., 2006, Ybarra and Mitchell, 2004a and Ybarra and Mitchell, 2004b) including large surveys to determine normative data on the prevalence and character of cyber bullying. The purpose of the current study was twofold: 1) to study the prevalence of cyber bullying among youth by distinguishing among the three categories of involvement in cyber bullying: victims, bullies, and bully–victims and to compare these to a fourth category of students who are not involved in cyber bullying; and 2) to examine factors that contribute to involvement in each of the cyber bullying categories in comparison to students that are not involved in cyber bullying.

5. Conclusion This study is unique in examining not only the frequency of youth's self-reported involvement in cyber bullying, but also the ways in which youth are involved. Almost one quarter of the students reported being victimized alone, and one quarter reported being involved as both bully and victim. It is striking that the category of bully–victim emerged as one that included a sizeable percentage of youth, whereas in traditional bullying this category represents the smallest and most vulnerable group of students. These findings indicate the need to examine whether a significant percentage of youth may shift between perpetrator and victim roles (Livingstone and Haddon, 2008 and Tokunaga, 2010). Such dynamics have significant implications for prevention, education and intervention. In addition, females were more likely than males to be bully–victims, in contrast to findings on traditional bullying, in which more males than females are typically involved as bully–victims. The findings highlight the need to further investigate cyber bullying to increase understanding of the dynamics including the risk and protective factors and characteristics of youth involved in cyber bullying as victim, aggressor or as both.