Stability and Change of Bullying Roles in the Traditional and Virtual Contexts: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study in Chinese Early Adolescents

Abstract

Traditional bullying and cyberbullying are two prevalent phenomena among adolescents around the world. Typically, bullying incidents involve distinct perpetrator and victim roles. However, the question whether participants' roles in bullying situation remain stable or changeable is unclear. The present study examined the developmental stability and change of bullying roles by simultaneously investigating adolescents' bullying behaviors both in the traditional and virtual contexts. Participants were 661 seventh- and eighth-grade students (39.0% girls) aged 11-15 years (M = 12.86, SD = .73) in China. They completed a survey measuring their experiences in perpetration and victimization of traditional bullying and cyberbullying at three time points with 6-month intervals. A cross-lagged panel design was used to test for the temporal sequence of research variables. The results showed a moderate consistency in the bullying roles that students took on (i.e., perpetrator and victim) over time. Traditional bullying perpetrators continued to bully others online, whereas cyberbullying victims continued to be bullied offline. Regarding role change in bullying, perpetrators and victims did not change their roles in traditional bullying situation, but they tended to change their roles to the opposites in cyberbullying situation. Traditional bullying victims were more likely to become cyberbullying perpetrators, and vice versa. Traditional bullying perpetrators also had a greater tendency of being bullied online, but not vice versa. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing adolescents' bullying behaviors should focus on the stability and change of bullying roles in the traditional and virtual contexts.

Overlap of traditional bullying and cyberbullying and correlates of bullying among Taiwanese adolescents: a cross-sectional study

“…In more recent studies conducted in East Asia, the pattern of relative predominance of traditional bullying over cyberbullying has also been reported in studies in China [44] and South Korea [45]. A study from China demonstrated that the prevalence rates of victimisation were 43.0 and 23.0% for traditional bullying and cyberbullying, respectively [44]. Furthermore, a Korean study showed that the prevalence rates of victimisation were 18.1, 12.8 and 3.5% for relational, verbal and physical bullying, respectively, and 5.6% for cyberbullying [45].…”

“…These prevalence rates and their relative predominance are similar to the results of a meta-analysis of 80 papers published between 2007 and 2013 [43], which showed that the prevalence rates were approximately 15 and 35% for cyberbullying and traditional bullying, respectively, for both perpetration and victimisation. In more recent studies conducted in East Asia, the pattern of relative predominance of traditional bullying over cyberbullying has also been reported in studies in China [44] and South Korea [45]. A study from China demonstrated that the prevalence rates of victimisation were 43.0 and 23.0% for traditional bullying and cyberbullying, respectively [44].…”

“…This discrepancy may be attributed to the difference in the years when the studies were conducted (2010 vs. 2018), the time frame of reference with regard to bullying experience (1 year vs. 2 months), the difference in response rates (80% vs. 62.0%), the partial difference in the question items about cyberbullying, or the decline in cyberbullying over time. The last possibility was suggested by a recent study in China that reported a decline in both cyberbullying and traditional bullying from 2016 to 2017 [44].…”

Loneliness, Family Communication, and School Adjustment in a Sample of Cybervictimized Adolescents

“…The results confirm this hypothesis, as the severe cybervictims in this study reported worse social adjustment, less academic competence and family involvement in school, as well as poorer relationships with the teachers. Regarding social adjustment, previous studies have indicated that cybervictims show more shyness, vulnerability, insecurity towards classmates, and social avoidance than adolescents not involved in cyberbullying [45].…”

Co-ocurrencia e interrelaciones entre la victimización, cybervictimización, bullying y cyberbullying en adolescentes.

“…Del mismo modo, el bullying previo predecía una involucración en el cyberbullying posterior, y viceversa. Estos resultados son coincidentes con estudios extranjeros (Chu et al, 2018;Jose et al, 2012). En lo relativo a las interrelaciones entre el bullying y el cyberbullying, si el bullying es una cuestión de relaciones de dominancia en la cual la víctima se va haciendo más sumisa y quien perpetra el bullying se va haciendo más dominante (Craig y Pepler y Olweus, 2013;Ortega y Mora Merchán, 2008), posiblemente quienes llevan a cabo bullying también emplean el cyberespacio como un espacio más para perpetrarlo (Juvonen y Gross, 2008).…”