6 research outputs found
Cyberbullying: a storm in a teacup?
Cyberbullying has been portrayed as a rising ‘epidemic’ amongst children and adolescents. But does it create many new victims beyond those already bullied with traditional means (physical, relational)? Our aim was to determine whether cyberbullying creates uniquely new victims, and whether it has similar impact upon psychological and behavioral outcomes for adolescents, beyond those experienced by traditional victims. This study assessed 2745 pupils, aged 11–16, from UK secondary schools. Pupils completed an electronic survey that measured bullying involvement, self-esteem and behavioral problems. Twenty-nine percent reported being bullied but only 1% of adolescents were pure cyber-victims (i.e., not also bullied traditionally). Compared to direct or relational victims, cyber-victimization had similar negative effects on behavior (z = −0.41) and self-esteem (z = −0.22) compared to those not involved in bullying. However, those bullied by multiple means (poly-victims) had the most difficulties with behavior (z = −0.94) and lowest self-esteem (z = −0.78). Cyberbullying creates few new victims, but is mainly a new tool to harm victims already bullied by traditional means. Cyberbullying extends the reach of bullying beyond the school gate. Intervention strategies against cyberbullying may need to include approaches against traditional bullying and its root causes to be successful.Published versio
Cluster-Randomized Trial Demonstrating Impact on Academic Achievement of Elementary Social-Emotional Learning.
This study evaluated the results of a social and emotional learning (SEL) program on academic
achievement among students attending a large, urban, high-risk school district. Using a clusterrandomized
design, 24 elementary schools were assigned to receive either the intervention
curriculum (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies, or PATHS) or a curriculum that delivered
few if any SEL topics (i.e., the control group). In addition to state mastery test scores,
demographic data, school attendance, and dosage information were obtained from 705 students
who remained in the same group from the 3rd to the 6th grade. Analyses of odds ratios revealed
that students enrolled in the intervention schools demonstrated higher levels of basic proficiency
in reading, writing, and math at some grade levels. Although these between-groups differences
held for race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, significant within-group differences
also were noted across these variables. Collectively, these findings indicated that social development
instruction may be a promising approach to promote acquisition of academic profi-
ciency, especially among youth attending high-risk school settings. Implications of these findings
with respect to SEL programs conclude the article
Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Italian Preadolescents Involved in School and Cyber Bullying and Victimization
Post-traumatic stress symptoms among Italian adolescents involved in school and cyber bullying and victimization
The purpose of this study was to investigate post-traumatic stress symptoms affecting the involvement in school bullying and cyberbullying of boys and girls according to the different bullying roles. The current study involved 5058 Italian students, aged 11–18, recruited from secondary schools, who anonymously self-reported about school and cyber bullying as victims and/or perpetrators, and about post-traumatic stress symptoms. Based on their responses, students were classified as ‘only-bullies’, ‘only-victims’, ‘bully/victims’, or ‘not involved’ in school and/or online. The results showed that symptoms of post-traumatic stress differ between boys and girls and according to their roles. For cyberbullying, the bully/victims and only victims reported higher post-traumatic stress symptoms. For school bullying, bully/victims and only bullies reported higher symptoms of stress, and girls overall have higher values of such symptoms. It was concluded that both school and cybe rbullying are risk factors for concurrent development of post-traumatic stress symptoms, differently affecting adolescents according to their role. The bully/victims both at school and online reported higher levels of post-traumatic stress, indicating that this is a high risk group that needs special attention and that school bullies, and only victims develop stress out of their behaviour and need to be targeted for prevention of worst health consequences, especially focusing on girls