Exploring factors associated with cyber bullying among middle and high school students

Background and Purpose: The Internet has become a site for bullying, exacerbated by perceptions of anonymity, technological knowledge among youth, and the ability of bullying messages and images to be quickly transmitted to a large audience. While a developing research base exists (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009; Kowalski & Limber, 2007; Williams & Guerra, 2007), little research has explored the factors that place youth most at risk for being cyber bullied and perpetrating cyber bullying. The purpose of this research was to identify subgroups of youth most likely to have cyber bullied or to have experienced cyber bullying.

Methods: A geographically stratified random sample of grade six, seven, ten and eleven students (n=2186) in a large urban centre completed a cyber bullying survey. Multivariate classification tree analysis generated subgroups of students most likely to have experienced or perpetuated cyber bullying, based on factors such as demographics and technology use.

Results: One-third of participants were born outside Canada and almost half had parents whose primary language was not English. Two-thirds of participants spent 2 or more hours on the computer daily, and almost half had a computer in their bedroom. One-half of participants (49.5%) indicated they had been bullied online in the last three months, and one third (33.7%) indicated they had bullied others online. Among both boys and girls, having cyber bullied others was associated with having: sent pictures on the computer; watched someone be cyber bullied; given their online password to friends; spent two or more hours on the computer daily; and engaged in other aggressive behaviours. Having been cyber bullied was associated with having: Canadian-born parents; used the computer to communicate with friends; watched others be cyber bullied; given their online password to friends; engaged in other aggressive behaviours; and visited social networking sites. Girls most at risk of having been cyber bullied (92% of this subgroup) were those who: harassed another student in the last month; watched someone be cyber bullied; and had a Canadian-born mother. Boys most at risk of having been cyber bullied (76% of this subgroup) were those who: communicated daily with friends online; physically bullied another student in the last month; and had frequented social networking sites. Girls most likely to cyber bully others (86% of this subgroup) were those who: harassed another student in the last month; spent more than two hours online daily; had a Canadian-born mother; and had given their online passwords to friends. Boys most likely to cyber bully others (87% of this subgroup) were those who: harassed another student in the past month; and spent more than three hours online daily.

Conclusions and Implications: Similar factors place youth at risk for experiencing and perpetuating cyber bullying. Youth who were cyber bullied however, engaged in other aggressive behaviours whereas those who cyber bullied others had engaged in the specific behaviour of harassing or bullying another student. Sharing online passwords with friends emerged as a significant risk for involvement in cyber bullying as a perpetrator or victim.