The emotional impact of bullying and cyberbullying on victims: a European cross-national study.

Past research has demonstrated the effects of bullying can be severe and long term for the individuals involved. The main aim of this study is to analyze the emotional impact on victims of traditional bullying, both direct and indirect forms, and of cyberbullying through mobile phones and the Internet. A sample of 5,862 adolescents from three different countries, Italy (N = 1,964), Spain (N = 1,671), and England (N = 2,227), responded to a questionnaire that asked if they had experience of various forms of bullying, and the consequent emotional impact. The results show that both traditional bullying and cyberbullying have a significant prevalence in the samples. Emotional responses are linked to types of bullying. Analysis of answers identified specific emotional profiles for the different types of bullying and cyberbullying. Direct bullying and cyberbullying via mobile phone showed similar profiles, and also indirect bullying and cyberbullying using the Internet. Similarities and differences between profiles are discussed and some hypotheses are presented to explain the results. In addition, school grade, gender, country, and severity of bullying episodes were related to the specific emotional profiles of each type of bullying.

[1]  B. Schmitz Auf der Suche nach dem verlorenen Individuum: vier Theoreme zur Aggregation von Prozessen , 2000 .

[2]  Tanya N. Beran,et al.  The Relationship between Cyberbullying and School Bullying , 2008 .

[3]  L R Bergman,et al.  A person-oriented approach in research on developmental psychopathology , 1997, Development and Psychopathology.

[4]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  Definitions of bullying: a comparison of terms used, and age and gender differences, in a fourteen-country international comparison. , 2002, Child development.

[5]  G. Bogat,et al.  Person-Oriented and Variable-Oriented Research: Concepts, Results, and Development , 2006 .

[6]  O. Aluede,et al.  A review of the extent, nature, characteristics and effects of bullying behaviour in schools , 2008 .

[7]  J. Schafer Multiple imputation: a primer , 1999, Statistical methods in medical research.

[8]  M. O'Reilly,et al.  Cyberbullying among students with intellectual and developmental disability in special education settings , 2009, Developmental neurorehabilitation.

[9]  N. Todorov,et al.  Forgiveness as a Coping Strategy to Allow School Students to Deal With the Effects of Being Bullied: Theoretical and Empirical Discussion , 2009 .

[10]  C. Salmivalli,et al.  Self-Evaluated Self-Esteem, Peer-Evaluated Self-Esteem, and Defensive Egotism as Predictors of Adolescents’ Participation in Bullying Situations , 1999 .

[11]  M. Gould,et al.  Peer victimization, depression, and suicidiality in adolescents. , 2008, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[12]  Justin W. Patchin,et al.  Bullies Move Beyond the Schoolyard , 2006 .

[13]  Cendri A. C. Hutcherson,et al.  The moral emotions: a social-functionalist account of anger, disgust, and contempt. , 2011, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[14]  M. Borg,et al.  The Emotional Reactions of School Bullies and their Victims , 1998 .

[15]  M-P Dumont,et al.  Resilience in Adolescents: Protective Role of Social Support, Coping Strategies, Self-Esteem, and Social Activities on Experience of Stress and Depression , 1999 .

[16]  J. Graber,et al.  Traditional and Cyber Aggressors and Victims: A Comparison of Psychosocial Characteristics , 2011, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[17]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  Cyberbullying: its nature and impact in secondary school pupils. , 2008, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[18]  D. Farrington,et al.  Protective Factors as Moderators of Risk Factors in Adolescence Bullying , 2005 .

[19]  R. Hambleton,et al.  Translating Tests: Some Practical Guidelines , 1996 .

[20]  Juliana Raskauskas,et al.  Involvement in traditional and electronic bullying among adolescents. , 2007, Developmental psychology.

[21]  M. O'moore,et al.  Self‐esteem and its relationship to bullying behaviour , 2001 .

[22]  Simon C. Hunter,et al.  The Influence of Emotional Reaction on Help Seeking by Victims of School Bullying , 2006 .

[23]  Joaquín A. Mora-Merchán,et al.  Lonely in the crowd: Recollections of bullying , 2004 .

[24]  Tyrone Donnon,et al.  Understanding the relationship between resiliency and bullying in adolescence: an assessment of youth resiliency from five urban junior high schools. , 2007, Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America.

[25]  D. Fetchenhauer,et al.  Cyberbullying: Aggression und sexuelle Viktimisierung in Chatrooms , 2007 .

[26]  David Warden,et al.  Help seeking amongst child and adolescent victims of peer-aggression and bullying: the influence of school-stage, gender, victimisation, appraisal, and emotion. , 2004, The British journal of educational psychology.

[27]  G. Gini,et al.  Association Between Bullying and Psychosomatic Problems: A Meta-analysis , 2009, Pediatrics.

[28]  Özgür Erdur-Baker,et al.  Examination of Cyberbullying Experiences among Turkish Students from Different School Types , 2008, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[29]  Joaquín A. Mora-Merchán,et al.  The Long-Term Effects of Coping Strategy Use in Victims of Bullying , 2004, The Spanish Journal of Psychology.

[30]  C. Spiel,et al.  Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying Identification of Risk Groups for Adjustment Problems , 2009 .

[31]  Peter K. Smith Cyberbullying: the European perspective , 2010 .

[32]  S. Folkman,et al.  Stress, appraisal, and coping , 1974 .

[33]  Detlef Fetchenhauer,et al.  Cyberbullying: Who Are the Victims? , 2009, J. Media Psychol. Theor. Methods Appl..

[34]  Joaquín A. Mora-Merchán,et al.  Comparative Aspects of Cyberbullying in Italy, England, and Spain , 2012 .

[35]  Michele L. Ybarra Linkages between Depressive Symptomatology and Internet Harassment among Young Regular Internet Users , 2004, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[36]  J B Carlin,et al.  Does bullying cause emotional problems? A prospective study of young teenagers , 2001, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[37]  S. Hunter,et al.  Cognitive mediators of the effect of peer victimization on loneliness. , 2010, The British journal of educational psychology.

[38]  Robert S. Tokunaga,et al.  Following you home from school: A critical review and synthesis of research on cyberbullying victimization , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[39]  E. Menesini,et al.  Cyberbullying: Labels, Behaviours and Definition in Three European Countries , 2010, Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling.

[40]  Rosario Ortega,et al.  EMOCIONES DE AGRESORES Y VÍCTIMAS DE CYBERBULLYING: UN ESTUDIO PRELIMINAR EN ESTUDIANTES DE SECUNDARIA , 2009 .

[41]  C. Bagwell,et al.  The Protective Role of Friendships in Overtly and Relationally Victimized Boys and Girls , 2007 .

[42]  J. Rønning,et al.  Exposure to bullying, reactions and psychological adjustment of secondary school students , 2009 .

[43]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  Cyberbullying in the global playground : research from international perspectives , 2012 .

[44]  R. Iannotti,et al.  School bullying among adolescents in the United States: physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. , 2009, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[45]  Ken Rigby,et al.  The relationship of Eysenck's personality factors and self-esteem to bully-victim behaviour in Australian schoolboys , 1993 .

[46]  K. Dyer,et al.  Bullying Experiences of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service-users: A Pilot Survey , 2007 .

[47]  S. Woods,et al.  Will the novel antipsychotics significantly ameliorate neuropsychological deficits and improve adaptive functioning in schizophrenia? , 1999, Psychological Medicine.

[48]  Juan Calmaestra,et al.  The emotional impact on victims of traditional bullying and cyberbullying: A study of Spanish adolescents. , 2009 .

[49]  L Bowes,et al.  Bullying victimization in youths and mental health problems: ‘Much ado about nothing’? , 2009, Psychological Medicine.

[50]  M. H. Schmidt,et al.  Gewaltprävention bei Kindern und Jugendlichen , 2007 .

[51]  R. Ortega,et al.  Self‐Esteem and Loneliness in Relation to Cyberbullying in Three European Countries , 2012 .

[52]  Elisheva F. Gross,et al.  Extending the school grounds?--Bullying experiences in cyberspace. , 2008, The Journal of school health.

[53]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  What causes the age decline in reports of being bullied at school? Towards a developmental analysis of risks of being bullied , 1999 .

[54]  Peter K. Smith The nature of school bullying : a cross-national perspective , 1999 .

[55]  P. Rozin,et al.  The CAD triad hypothesis: a mapping between three moral emotions (contempt, anger, disgust) and three moral codes (community, autonomy, divinity). , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[56]  A. Frisén,et al.  Health‐related quality of life and bullying in adolescence , 2010, Acta paediatrica.