Premium
Adolescent Online Cyberbullying in Greece: The Impact of Parental Online Security Practices, Bonding, and Online Impulsiveness
Author(s) -
Floros Georgios D.,
Siomos Konstantinos E.,
Fisoun Virginia,
Dafouli Evaggelia,
Geroukalis Dimitrios
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12049
Subject(s) - psychology , the internet , psychosocial , population , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , environmental health , world wide web , computer science
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND The introduction of new technological media worldwide has had a number of unfortunate side effects for some adolescents, including cases of bullying others through the new media (cyberbullying) and over‐involvement to the point of addiction. We examine the epidemiology of cyberbullying in a Greek setting, compare it with earlier data, determine the impact of any related psychosocial factors, and propose measures to combat the phenomenon. METHODS A cross‐sectional study of the entire adolescent high‐school student population of the island of Kos examined the relationship between their experiences of Internet cyberbullying and respective parental characteristics, including aspects of psychological bonding and online security measures. The sample consisted of 2017 students (51.8% boys, 48.2% girls). Comparisons are made with results obtained from an earlier survey in the same setting, 2 years earlier. RESULTS There was a significant rise in reported experiences of Internet cyberbullying over the 2‐year period. Security practices exercised by parents had a protective role with regards to whether a child had been cyberbullied, yet failed to prevent the perpetration of online victimization. A regression model indicated that impulsive use of the Internet and related online activities were predictive of whether an adolescent victimized others online. CONCLUSION Cyberbullying frequency with regards to both victims and victimizers was high and associated with online impulsiveness, pointing to the possible existence of some commonalities. Further research is necessary to ascertain common underlying psychological factors and neurobiology.