Bullying, Cyberbullying and the Overlap: What Does Age Have to Do with It?

Rafael Pichel, Mairéad Foody, James O’Higgins Norman, Sandra Feijóo, Jesús Varela and Antonio Rial
Additional contact information
Rafael Pichel: Consumer and User Psychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Mairéad Foody: National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre, Dublin City University, D09 AW21 Dublin, Ireland
James O’Higgins Norman: National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre, Dublin City University, D09 AW21 Dublin, Ireland
Sandra Feijóo: Consumer and User Psychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Jesús Varela: Consumer and User Psychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Antonio Rial: Consumer and User Psychology Unit, Faculty of Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-11

Abstract: School bullying and cyberbullying represent the most common forms of victimization during childhood and adolescence in many countries across the globe. Although they can be studied as distinct phenomena with their own defining characteristics, there is evidence to suggest that they are related and often co-occur. The present research aimed to estimate the rates of school bullying and cyberbullying, studied their evolution by age, and analyzed any possible overlap between the two. An empirical study was carried out with a large sample of children and adolescents in Galicia, Spain (N = 2083), where 10–17 year olds were presented with The European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire. School bullying was found to be more prevalent than cyberbullying, with 25.1% involved as victims and 14.3% as bully-victims, while the cyberbullying rates were 9.4% for victims and 5.8% for bully-victims. Perpetration rates were similar for school and cyberbullying (4.4% and 4.3% respectively). The overlap between both phenomena adds to the evidence for a whole-community approach to tackling all types of bullying and victimization experiences, as opposed to each in silo. The clear age differences in bullying behaviours also suggest the appropriateness of tailoring anti-bullying programs to target specific age groups.

Keywords: school bullying; cyberbullying; childhood; adolescence; age; overlap (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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