Adolescent's Cyber Violence Perpetration and Risk Factors in South Korea: The Moderating Role of Parental and School Control

Background: South Korea is a leader in ICT infrastructure. The advancement of technology has made it possible for smartphones to be widely distributed in South Korea. With the spread of smartphones, adolescents are exposed to cyber violence indiscriminately; recently, many adolescents have reported being perpetrators of cyber violence. Cyber violence among adolescents should no longer be overlooked, because of its physical, psychological, and relational consequences. This study examined the relationship between cyber violence perpetration, risk factors, and protective factors based on routine activity theory, which comprehensively examines the situation in which cyber violence occurs. This study explores risk factors related to cyber violence experience, and confirms whether protective factors at home and school moderate this relationship.

Methods: This study used the Study on Classification of Cyber Violence (2016) conducted by the National Information Society Agency. This survey includes self-reported data of 3,150 (1,500 adolescents and 1,650 adults) in South Korea. The present analysis was based on 1,484 adolescents who had no missing values on key variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the association between risk factors and cyber violence perpetration, and to examine the moderation effect of protective factors in this relationship. Independent variables included cyber violence victimization (average score of 7 items) and the number of friends who participated in cyber violence (average score of 2 items). Moderating variables were parental interest in children's cyber violence (average score of 3 items), parental management of children's digital media (average score of 8 items), and school control over cyber violence and smartphones (average score of 4 items).

Results: First, risk factors and protective factors had a statistically significant relationship with cyber violence. The number of friends who participated in cyber violence and the level of cyber violence victimization showed a positive association with the level of cyber violence perpetration. Absence of parental interest in cyber violence and lack of school control were linked with increase in the level of adolescent’s cyber violence. However, absence of parental management of children’s digital media had a negative relationship with cyber violence, indicating that parental excessive control may increase adolescent’s cyber problem behavior. Second, two variables—the absence of parental interest in cyber violence and lack of school control—amplified the relationship between the number of friends who participated in cyber violence and the level of cyber violence perpetration.

Conclusions and Implications: This study examined the risk factors and protective factors associated with adolescent’s cyber violence. This study found that parental interest in children’s cyber violence and official school control moderated the relationship between the number of friends who participated in cyber violence and the level of cyber violence perpetration. This implies parental and school control can prevent the detrimental role of having friends who participated in cyber violence on children’s cyber violence. Results suggest the need for paying attention to children’s cyber violence by parents. At the school level, it is necessary to form an overall climate and culture to raise awareness of anti-cyber violence.