Happiness and depression in the traditionally bullied and cyberbullied 12-year-old

Abstract

This study investigated the overall happiness, school-related happiness, and depression of traditionally bullied and cyberbullied 12-year-old Finnish students. Among the more than 700 participants, traditional bullying (26%) was more frequent than cyberbullying (18%). Receiving insulting text messages or being the subject of offensive comments on the Internet were the most common forms of cyberbullying. Often those who were cyberbullied were also victims of traditional bullying (the polyvictimized comprised 11% of all participants). We found no differences between genders in traditional bullying rates, but cyberbullying was more common among girls. Being victimized, in either form, was related to a decrease in all measures of psychological well-being, with the poly-victimized scoring the lowest. In particular, being victimized predicted depression, with the poly-victimized scoring the highest. The results indicate a clear need to intervene in early adolescents' culture of communicating via electronic devices and especially to identify victims of bullying in both the real and cyberworld.

Relationships between internet use, deliberate self-harm, and happiness in adolescents: A Taiwan birth cohort pilot study

“…Among the 1,457 adolescents, 24.3% of the 12-year-olds reported having been bullied, with 19.8% at age 13. This is similar to the rate of 22.4% in the United Kingdom [19], and 26% among 12-year-old Finnish students [20]. The decrease in the rate of bullying from age 12 to 13 years is in line with an international large-scale survey including 40 countries that showed a trend of decreasing prevalence in victimization with increasing age [21].…”

“…However, those with lower level of SAS at age 12 were at higher risk of being bullied at 13, leading to lower PWB. Victims of bullying in Finland and Spain also showed a significant decrease in level of happiness, compared to adolescents who were not bullied [20,22]. Unfortunately, those with a low level of happiness are also maladapted in school and thus become more susceptible to bullying [23].…”

The role of parent-child relationship, school climate, happiness, and empathy to predict cyberbullying behavior

“…Several previous studies have confirmed the significant relationship between cyberbullying and happiness. Uusitalo-Malmivaara and Lehto [54] found that cyberbullying victims have increased symptoms of depression and a decreased level of happiness. Meanwhile, Ali Padir, Eroglu, & Caliskan [55] found a significant negative correlation between happiness and cyberbullying victimization.…”

Supporting Pupils in Finnish and Swedish Schools—Teachers’ Views

“…The positive approach could represent a counter reaction to seeing a problem in a child, as in the case of the medical model (see Reindal, 2010). Positive pedagogy is also something that has recently been written about and studied a great deal (Seligman, 2011;Uusitalo-Malmivaara & Lehto, 2016). It could be seen as a new, modern and politically acceptable way to talk about, and to approach, behavioural challenges.…”