Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization Prevalence among Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review.

In light of the alarming results emerging from some studies and reports on the significant increase in aggressive online behaviors among children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, the current research aimed at providing a more detailed evaluation of the investigations focusing on the cyberbullying prevalence rates published between 2020 and 2023. To this purpose, systematic searches were conducted on four databases (Web of Science, APA PsycInfo, Scopus and Google Scholar), and following PRISMA guidelines, 16 studies were included and qualitatively reviewed. Although studies were characterized by a large variety in cyberbullying operationalization and measurement, and by different methodologies used for data collection, the prevalence rates of the involvement in cyberbullying and/or cybervictimization generally revealed opposite trends: an increase in many Asian countries and Australia and a decrease in Western countries. The findings were also discussed by considering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, some suggestions were provided to policy makers for promoting prevention and intervention anti-cyberbullying programs in school contexts.

Mitigating the Risk of Digital Financial Exploitation.

The article by Zhang and colleagues in this issue of The Journal calls attention to an important but underrecognized problem facing today's seniors and their loved ones. The risk of digital financial exploitation, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, has risen considerably in recent years and continues to rise today. Zhang et al. provide a helpful analysis of assessment tools currently available to forensic psychiatrists for the evaluation of financial capacity. Although many of these tools were not originally intended to encompass technologically based transactions, the risks of fraud and scams associated with payment apps, social media, and electronic fund transfers are considerable and growing. Fraudsters frequently target vulnerable older adults, and victims have lost large sums through some of the more prevalent schemes. Several strategies can help to mitigate the risk of severe losses and to increase the likelihood that lost assets can be recovered. Proactive education through increased awareness will prove helpful, but given the growing sophistication of modern digital cons, such as romance scams, increased technological safeguards are warranted in the setting of reduced financial capacity. When losses do occur, there are some resources for recovery and for filing complaints against perpetrators.

Prevalence of Physical Violence in the Medical-Forensic Approach in the Years 2015-2020 in City and Neighboring Municipalities: Perspectives from Poland-Poznan Study.

Forensic medical opinions serve the appropriate classification of a crime against health. Violence, a multifaceted phenomenon, requires forensic medical examination in the case of causing damage to health. Due to the effects caused by the perpetrator, the damage to health is divided into severe, medium, and light. This study analyzed 7689 incidents of violence from 2015-2020, taking place in the area subordinate to the Provincial Police Headquarters in Poznan, based on anonymized documentation of forensic medical examinations performed at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Poznan at the request of the Police and privately. The analysis took into account: units ordering the test, type of exposure, medical help, sex and age of the victim, places of the incident, classification and localization of injury, manner of impact, attitude of the perpetrator to the victim, profession of the victim, gender of the perpetrator, and remarks. In Poland, statistics on violence victims are underestimated, resulting from the low reporting of crimes committed to law enforcement authorities. There is a need for programs to educate the perpetrator of violence on methods of conflict resolution and programs to prevent violence, covering events taking place in public spaces.

Health workers as hate crimes targets during COVID-19 outbreak in the Americas.

Many health workers in the Americas, especially women, have been victims of discrimination and different types of grievances during the COVID-19 pandemic. These brief reflections aim to make the problem visible, offer theoretical explanations and some recommendations. The pandemic constitutes a massive crisis that triggers fears and reassuring of diffuse anxieties, which often includes someone to blame. Healthcare workers have become circumstantial scapegoating targets. The inflicted attacks can be understood as reactive hate crimes since they are originated from an allegedly healthy person to an allegedly contaminated person. People seems to incur in a sanitary profiling process based on the health worker's uniform. However, these expressions of hatred are fueled by pre-pandemic circumstances such as the precariousness of health systems and deficient medical equipment, misogyny, or the pervasiveness of authoritarian tendencies. Understanding this situation as a human rights issue, it is suggested to consider measures in order to discourage these attacks, such as: guaranteeing the appropriate conditions of hospitals and the personal protective equipment of workers; development of recognition campaigns of the healthcare staff and the work they carry out (in particular female nurses); and implementing transitory regulations that sanction any hate crime type attack to health workers or the scientific community. Furthermore, educational advocacy efforts should reiterate basic hygiene measures for the people, but also focus on refuting false and pseudoscientific beliefs that contribute to the fear-induced construction of the health worker as a threat of contagion.

Domestic violence assault during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal community study.

BACKGROUND: The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have been far-reaching, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations. Of particular concern is the impact on individuals experiencing domestic violence (DV), an urgent public health issue. There have been numerous reports of pandemic-related surges in DV, and it has been speculated that prolonged periods of state-mandated isolation may be the source of these surges. The current study utilized publicly available records to examine fluctuations in DV coinciding with COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in a diverse metropolitan county. METHODS: Data were extracted from local police blotters and mapping engines in Orange County, California (United States), documenting police-reported DV assault. All incidents were coded for time to examine the time course of DV among other types of assault, allowing for a longitudinal view of incidents over a 66-week window. Changepoint analyses were used to determine whether and when DV assaults changed when mapped with coinciding tightening or loosening of restrictions county-wide. Piecewise regression analyses evaluated whether any detected fluctuations were statistically meaningful. RESULTS: In Santa Ana, rates saw a small but significant spike in the week following the first major lockdown in March 2020 (b = .04, SE = .02, t = 2.37, p = .01), remaining stable at this higher level thereafter (b = -.003, SE = .003, t = -1.29, p = .20). In Anaheim, no meaningful change in DV assault rates was observed at any time interval. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that surges in DV vary between communities and that systemic issues may set the stage for the surge of an already endemic problem.

A Cross-Sectional Survey of Different Types of School Bullying before and during COVID-19 in Shantou City, China.

BACKGROUND: Since the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has had serious wide-ranging effects on academic, occupational and other daily activities. Like other types of institutions, schools are facing unprecedented challenges. Students may face a variety of adverse consequences, including sleep disturbances and school bullying, if they are unable to adjust to the current learning and living environment. This study explored the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on school bullying. METHODS: A total of 5782 middle school students were enrolled in this multi-stage, cross-sectional study (3071 before and 2711 during the pandemic). The pre-pandemic group had a mean age of 14.9 ± 1.73, the pandemic group of 14.75 ± 1.47. Three models were set up using binary logistic regression to adjust for confounding variables (gender, school type, alcohol consumption, smoking, playing violent video games). RESULTS: All types of bullying victimization and perpetration (physical, verbal, social and property bullying) were more common during the pandemic than before the pandemic. In terms of bullying victimization, property bullying victimization (crude odds ratio [OR]: 2.398, 95% CI: 2.014-2.854, p < 0.001; model 2 adjusted OR: 2.344, 95% CI: 1.966-2.795, p < 0.001; model 3 adjusted OR: 2.818, 95% CI: 2.292-3.464, p < 0.001) increased the most. In terms of bullying perpetration, verbal bullying perpetration (crude OR: 3.007, 95% CI: 2.448-3.693, p <0.001; model 2 adjusted OR: 2.954, 95% CI: 2.399-3.637, p < 0.001; model 3 adjusted OR:3.345, 95% CI: 2.703-4.139, p < 0.001) increased the most. CONCLUSION: This study corroborate the significance of the pandemic on traditional school bullying and suggests that we should further consider other types of bullying and establish and improve the response and prevention mechanisms during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Study on the Analysis of and Educational Solution for Digital Sex Crimes in Korea.

With the development and spread of information and communication technology, our society is experiencing side effects of digital culture while also benefiting from various digital cultures. Representative side effects have spread significantly, including Internet addiction, copyright infringement, personal information infringement, and digital sex crimes. Digital sex crimes are very serious crimes, and we must find their causes and strongly prevent and deal with them at the social level. In this study, the causes and routes of occurrence of digital sex crimes in Korea are analyzed using statistics on digital sex crimes at the national level over the past four years. The statistical analysis results are as follows. First, the main victims of digital sex crimes are women in their teens and twenties, though the number of male victims is steadily increasing. Second, illegal filming is the most common type of digital sex crime, but it is not statistically significant. In other words, various digital sex crimes are occurring evenly. Third, the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator demonstrates the most temporary relationship, and there is no significant correlation between direct and indirect recognition with respect to the route of crime recognition. Finally, deletion by a digital platform is the highest for adult sites compared to other platforms. Based on these analysis results, this study proposes educational countermeasures to digital sex crimes, such as the need for early education to prevent digital sex crimes and the diversification of crime-reporting methods via the establishment of an educational portal site.

Cyberbullying, Social Media Addiction and Associations with Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Medical Students in Malaysia.

This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with cyberbullying and social media addiction. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 270 medical students from a public university in Kuching, Malaysia. The instruments used in this study included the cyberbullying questionnaire survey, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21-item (DASS-21). The prevalence of cyberbullying victimization was 24.4%, whilst 13.0% reported cyberbullying perpetration over the past six months. Male gender was positively associated with both cyberbullying perpetration and cybervictimization, whilst social media addiction was positively associated with cybervictimization. Psychological motives such as positive attitudes toward cyberbullying and gaining power were associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Cybervictimization doubled the tendency to depression (aOR 2.50, 95% CI [1.23, 5.08], p = 0.012), anxiety (aOR 2.38, 95% CI [1.29, 4.40], p = 0.006), and stress (aOR 2.85, 95% CI [1.41, 5.77], p = 0.004), whilst social media addiction was associated with a higher tendency to depression (aOR 1.18, 95% CI [1.10, 1.26], p < 0.001), anxiety (aOR 1.15, 95% CI [1.08, 1.22], p < 0.001), and stress (aOR 1.21, 95% CI [1.12, 1.32], p < 0.001). Medical schools in Malaysia need policies and guidelines against cyberbullying.

Prevalence and Correlates of Non-Dating Sexual Violence, Sexual Dating Violence, and Physical Dating Violence Victimization among U.S. High School Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an environment of disruption and adversity for many adolescents. We sought to establish the prevalence of non-dating sexual violence, sexual dating violence, and physical dating violence victimization among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and to investigate whether experiences of disruption and adversity placed adolescents at greater risk for these forms of interpersonal violence. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Adolescent Behavior and Experiences Survey, collected January to June 2021 from a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students (N = 7,705). Exposures included abuse by a parent; economic, housing, and food and nutrition insecurity; interpersonal connectedness; and personal well-being. Among female students, 8.0% experienced non-dating sexual violence; 12.5% experienced sexual dating violence; and 7.7% experienced physical dating violence. Among male students, 2.2% experienced non-dating sexual violence; 2.4% experienced sexual dating violence; and 4.9% experienced physical dating violence. Among female students, both emotional and physical abuse by a parent was related to non-dating sexual violence, emotional abuse was related to sexual dating violence, and physical abuse was related to physical dating violence. Among males, emotional abuse by a parent was related to physical dating violence and physical abuse by a parent was related to sexual dating violence. Hunger was associated with sexual and physical dating violence among female students and homeless was associated with physical dating violence among male students. Although there were differences by sex, abuse by a parent, hunger, and homelessness created precarity that may have increased the likelihood that adolescents would be exposed to risky peer or dating relationships. Adolescents need support that stops and prevents experiences of non-dating sexual and dating violence connected to interventions that address adversities experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Is cyberbullying perpetration associated with anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation among lebanese adolescents? Results from a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: As cyberbullying is a new area of investigation, results worldwide point to the prevalence of cyberbullying perpetration. This study aimed to assess the association between cyberbullying perpetration, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation among Lebanese adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between May and June 2021 and included a sample of adolescents aged between 13 and 16 years old, recruited from private schools chosen in a convenient way from all Lebanese districts. A total of 520 students accepted to participate in our study. To collect data, a questionnaire was shared by google form including: Cyber Bully/Cyber victim questionnaire; Lebanese Anxiety Scale; and Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents. RESULTS: The results of the linear regressions, taking anxiety and depression as dependent variables, showed that female gender, having kind of hard and very/extremely hard influence of problems on daily work, sexual cyberbullying in cyberspace, embarrassing and inserting malicious content in cyberspace and older age were significantly associated with more anxiety and depression. Having kind of hard influence of problems on daily work compared to not at all, higher anxiety, higher depression and higher household crowding index (lower socioeconomic status) were significantly associated with higher odds of having suicidal ideation in the last month. CONCLUSION: Cyberbullying perpetration and its associated factors reported in this study are significant enough to call for early detection and prevention strategies for Lebanese adolescents. At the school level, effective programs implemented in the school years are needed, aiming to develop social/emotional control, and conflict resolution skills as they might decrease engagement in cyberbullying perpetration among adolescents. Preventive interventions are needed to reduce the engagement of Lebanese adolescents in cyberbullying perpetration.

Activity-adjusted crime rates show that public safety worsened in 2020.

This paper argues that changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unusual divergence between crime rates and victimization risk in US cities. Most violent crimes declined during the pandemic. However, analysis using data on activity shows that the risk of street crime victimization was elevated throughout 2020. People in public spaces were 15 to 30% more likely to be robbed or assaulted. This increase is unlikely to be explained by changes in crime reporting or selection into outdoor activities by potential victims. Traditional crime rates may present a misleading view of the recent changes in public safety.

Adolescent Victimization during COVID-19 Lockdowns and Its Influence on Mental Health Problems in Seven Countries: The Mediation Effect of Resilience.

The objective of this study was to test the differences between the mean scores of victimization, an indicator of depression, stress, and anxiety (DASS), across seven countries (Australia, Chile, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, and the Russian Federation) during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In addition, this study sought to analyze the mediator role of resilience in these relationships in the different countries. To this end, a structural equation model (SEM) was tested and differences across countries were considered through a multigroup analysis. Data for adolescent students from seven countries (n = 7241) collected by the Global Research Alliance showed that levels of anxiety, depression, and stress among adolescents were different in the countries assessed; all of them presented values above the mean of the indicator, with Chile and Russia having the highest values. Regarding the prevalence of exposure to violence, the mean across all countries studied was 34%, with the highest prevalence in Russia and India. At the global level, an adequate adjustment was observed in the SEM mediation model considering all countries. However, a mediator effect of resilience was only observed in the relationship between victimization and the indicator of DASS in Chile, Indonesia, and Russia. The results are discussed, analyzing the relevance of resilience as a protective factor for mental health during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Cyber-Victimization and Mental Health Concerns among Middle School Students Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had significant impacts on adolescents' mental health and social interactions; however, little is known about cyber-victimization and mental health concerns from before to during the pandemic. The current study addressed this gap, while also examining how social media use and disagreements with friends during the pandemic were associated with cyber-victimization and mental health outcomes. Participants included 272 youth in the U.S. (56% female; 32% White), surveyed in fall 2019 (Mage = 11.75, SD = 0.68) and spring 2021 (Mage = 13.11, SD = 0.75). Adolescents reported increases in mental health symptoms and decreases in cyber-victimization. Experiencing more cyber-victimization before the pandemic was associated with significant increases in anxiety, depression, and social stress. The results suggest bolstering violence prevention programming in schools to reduce the likelihood of cyber-victimization and associated mental health outcomes.

Characterization of cases of violence against women in times of pandemic by Covid-19 in a municipality in the southwest of Paraná / Caracterização dos casos de violência contra a mulher em tempos de pandemia por Covid-19 em um município do sudoeste do Paraná / Caracterización de casos de violencia contra la mujer en tiempos de pandemia por Covid-19 en un municipio del sudoeste de Paraná

Introdução: A violência contra à mulher é caracterizada especialmente pela desigualdade de gênero, diferença hierárquica, subordinação e pela agressividade do parceiro ou ex-parceiro. Entre os principais subtipos, cita-se; a violência física, psicológica, sexual, patrimonial e moral. Com o surgimento da pandemia de coronavírus em 2020 na tentativa de contenção da doença, medidas protetivas como o isolamento social aumentaram o convívio familiar. Dessa forma, as vítimas de violência passaram a ficar ainda mais tempo expostas aos seus agressores e consequentemente com maiores dificuldades para denunciar os abusos sofridos, pois a prestação dos serviços públicos, instituições de segurança e judiciais também foram restringidas. Objetivo: Caracterizar os casos de violência contra a mulher em tempos de pandemia de coronavírus em um município do Sudoeste do Paraná. Materiais e métodos: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo, documental e transversal com abordagem quantitativa realizada em um município do Sudoeste do Paraná a partir da coleta de dados, por meio das fichas de notificação de violência contra a mulher entre 2019 e 2021. Resultados e discussão: O estudo demonstrou prevalência de notificações no ano de 2019 em mulheres com idade de 12 a 18 anos (27,2%), brancas (71,3%), com ensino médio (21,9%), sendo ainda estudantes (23,1%) ou desempregadas (17,2%), sem companheiro (52,4%), residentes da área urbana (74%), heterossexuais (50,6%), sem possuir algum tipo de deficiência (51,8%). Ao verificar a tipologia da agressão com maior incidência, observou-se a lesão autoprovocada (53,6%) por meio da intoxicação /envenenamento (41,4%). Quanto a violência interpessoal, notou-se que a maioria das agressões foram ocasionadas pelo próprio cônjuge da vítima (12,4%), utilizando da força física (29,3%), salienta-se que o álcool não estava presente na maior parte das agressões. Conclusão: Evidencia-se a prevalência de violência autoprovocada (53,6%), em adolescentes com ensino médio, brancas, sem companheiro, residentes da área urbana, agredidas em ambiente domiciliar, motivadas por conflitos geracionais, sendo as violências mais incidentes a física por meio de envenenamento/intoxicação. Diante do exposto é importante abordar o fato de que é necessário realizar capacitações com os profissionais de saúde referente a ficha de notificação e orientá-los da importância de preenchê-la de forma correta, para haja a tomada de providências de acordo com cada necessidade.

Introduction: Introduction: Violence against women is characterized especially by gender inequality, hierarchical difference, subordination and aggressiveness of the partner or ex partner. Among the main subtypes are physical, psychological, sexual, patrimonial and moral violence. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 in an attempt to contain the disease, protective measures such as social isolation increased family coexistence. As a result, the victims of violence have been exposed to their aggressors for even longer and consequently find it more difficult to report the abuse they have suffered, since the provision of public services, security and judicial institutions have also been restricted. Objective: To characterize the cases of violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic in a municipality in the southwest of Paraná. Materals and methods: This is a descriptive, documentary, and cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach carried out in a municipality in the Southwest of Paraná from data collection performed through the notification forms of violence against women notified between 2019 and 2021. Results and discussion: The study showed a prevalence of notifications in the year 2019 in women aged 12 to 18 years (27.2%), white (71.3%), with high school education (21.9%), being still students (23.1%) or unemployed (17.2%), without a partner (52.4%), residents of the urban area (74%), more specifically the Padre Ulrico neighborhood (12.4%), heterosexual (50.6%), without having any type of disability (51.8%). When checking the type of aggression with the highest incidence, we observed self-harm (53.6%) through intoxication/ poisoning (41.4%). As for interpersonal violence, it was noted that most aggressions were caused by the victim's own spouse (12.4%), using physical force (29.3%), and alcohol was not present in most aggressions. Conclusion: The prevalence of self- inflicted violence (53.6%) is evident in adolescents with high school education, white, without a partner, urban residents, assaulted in the home environment, motivated by generational conflicts, with the most incident violence being physical violence through poisoning/intoxication. Given the above, it is important to address the fact that it is necessary to conduct training with health professionals regarding the notification form and guide them on the importance of filling it out correctly, so that there is taking action according to each need.

Introducción: La violencia contra las mujeres se caracteriza especialmente por la desigualdad de género, la diferencia jerárquica, la subordinación y la agresividad de la pareja o ex pareja. Entre los principales subtipos, se menciona; la violencia física, psicológica, sexual, patrimonial y moral. Con la aparición de la pandemia de coronavirus en 2020 en un intento de contener la enfermedad, las medidas de protección como el aislamiento social han aumentado la convivencia familiar. Así, las víctimas de la violencia han quedado aún más expuestas a sus agresores y, en consecuencia, tienen mayores dificultades para denunciar los abusos sufridos, ya que también se ha restringido la prestación de servicios públicos, de seguridad y de instituciones judiciales. Objetivo: Caracterizar los casos de violencia contra la mujer en tiempos de pandemia de coronavirus en un municipio del sudoeste de Paraná. Materiales y métodos: Se trata de un estudio descriptivo, documental y transversal con enfoque cuantitativo realizado en un municipio del suroeste de Paraná a partir de la recolección de datos a través de las formas de notificación de la violencia contra las mujeres entre 2019 y 2021. Resultados y discusión: El estudio mostró una prevalencia de notificaciones en 2019 en mujeres de 12 a 18 años (27,2%), de raza blanca (71,3%), con estudios secundarios (21,9%), siendo aún estudiantes (23,1%) o desempleadas (17,2%), sin pareja (52,4%), residentes en el área urbana (74%), heterosexuales (50,6%), sin tener algún tipo de discapacidad (51,8%). Al verificar el tipo de agresión con mayor incidencia, se observó la lesión autoinfligida (53,6%) a través de la intoxicación / envenenamiento (41,4%). En cuanto a la violencia interpersonal, se observó que la mayoría de las agresiones fueron causadas por el propio cónyuge de la víctima (12,4%), utilizando la fuerza física (29,3%), se destaca que el alcohol no estuvo presente en la mayoría de las agresiones. Conclusión: Se evidencia la prevalencia de la violencia autoprovocada (53,6%), en adolescentes con educación médica, brancas, sin compañía, residentes del área urbana, agredidos en ambiente domiciliario, motivados por conflictos geracionales, siendo las violencias más incidentes a la física por medio de envenenamiento/intoxicación. Dado lo anterior es importante abordar el hecho de que es necesario realizar una capacitación con los profesionales de la salud respecto a la ficha de notificación y orientarlos sobre la importancia de llenarla correctamente, para que exista la toma de acciones de acuerdo a cada necesidad.

The severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on bullying victimization, mental health indicators and quality of life.

Children and adolescents have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of traditional and digital bullying and mental health problems a year into the pandemic. Further, how anxiety level, loneliness, and self-perceived school functioning have influenced the quality of life. A comprehensive questionnaire was administered (N = 1239) in the city of Tromsø and compared to a similar data collection (N = 972) conducted in the same schools in 2017. The main findings were increased prevalence in bullying, more mental health problems and significantly reduced quality of life compared to before the pandemic. Implications and the importance of implementing anti-bullying and psychosocial measures after the pandemic are discussed.

Characteristics of victim blaming related to COVID-19 in South Korea.

This study aimed to determine the characteristics of the victim-blaming tendency of patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and the worry of being blamed because of COVID-19 infection. This study utilized two methodologies based on the theory of defensive attribution and information processing. First, a media analysis was conducted to determine the characteristics of the two representative COVID-19 victim blaming cases (the Itaewon Club case and the Omicron-infected pastor case). The results show that from the viewpoint of defensive attribution theory, the victim blaming of patients infected with COVID-19 is related to social identity and moral violations committed by the patients. The Korean public emphasized their social identity and believed that the patients were different from them from an ego-defensive viewpoint. Second, we conducted three longitudinal online panel surveys (N1 = 1569; N2 = 1037; N3 = 833). The samples were selected by stratified random sampling based on sex, age, and 17 metropolitan regions in Korea. The results showed that as the number of COVID-19 cases increased, the respondents' level of risk perception decreased significantly. As the information processing theory explains, people who are familiar with the frequent risks of COVID-19 are less worried about being blamed by others. Meanwhile, the regression analysis found that victim blaming of the pastor was significantly related to the respondent's religion. We can conclude that the Korean people may blame the victims of COVID-19 because they believe that the victims are very different from an ego-defensive viewpoint. Furthermore, the trust variable appeared to be important: the more the respondents trusted the government, the more they blamed the victims of COVID-19. We term this phenomenon the "trust paradox."

Relational Victimization and Video Game Addiction among Female College Students during COVID-19 Pandemic: The Roles of Social Anxiety and Parasocial Relationship.

Video game addiction, a common behavioral problem among college students, has been more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic; at the same time, females' video game usage has also attracted considerable research attention. Against this background and under the perspective of social interaction, this study aimed to examine the relationship between relational victimization and video game addiction among female college students, as well as its underlying mechanism-the mediating roles of social anxiety and parasocial relationships with virtual characters. Female college students (N = 437) were recruited to complete a set of questionnaires voluntarily in June 2022. Through the mediating effect analysis, the results found that (1) relational victimization was positively associated with female college students' video game addiction; (2) social anxiety and parasocial relationships with virtual characters could independently mediate this relation; (3) social anxiety and parasocial relationships with virtual characters were also the serial mediators in this association. These findings not only expand previous studies by revealing the social motivation of video game usage and the underlying mechanism accounting for video game addiction, but also provide basis and guidance for the prevention and intervention of video game addiction in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Changes in Collective Efficacy's Preventive Effect on Intimate Partner Violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Following the logic of studies showing that collective efficacy within neighborhoods deters intimate partner violence (IPV), the promotion of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic may have weakened that effect. To examine that possibility, we analyzed panel data from 318 adults in Japan regarding IPV victimization and perceived collective efficacy at four time points. A latent growth model (LGM) analysis for each measure revealed that informal social control, a subscale of collective efficacy, has declined since the pandemic began, whereas no significant changes have occurred in social cohesion and trust, another subscale of collective efficacy, and IPV victimization. Furthermore, two parallel LGM analyses revealed that although collective efficacy before the pandemic suppressed subsequent IPV victimization, changes in collective efficacy during the pandemic have been positively associated with changes in IPV. Those results suggest that collective efficacy's protective effect on IPV is moderated by whether interactions between intimate partners and their neighbors are socially normative.

Characterization of Cyberbullying Victimization and Perpetration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain.

Cyberbullying is an extremely damaging form of interpersonal violence. Little is yet known about cyberbullying behaviors in the child and youth population during the COVID-19 pandemic and what effect this reduction in face-to-face social interactions has had on an increase in socialization via the Internet and cyberbullying. The present study is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in young people between the ages of 12 and 27 years attending two secondary schools in southern Spain (N = 733) to examine differences regarding sociodemographic characteristics, academic performance, and digital device use (independent variables) in the experiences of cybervictimization, cyberperpetration, and adverse psychological effects (dependent variables). Logistic regression models were constructed for each of the dependent variables including the independent variables mentioned above. More than 50 percent of the sample were victims of cyberbullying. Females and the LGBTIQ+ Community were at greater risk of being cybervictims and suffer adverse psychological effects. A total of 22.8 percent of the students reported having been victims and 26.5 percent perpetrators of cyberbullying for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic, but no other major differences were observed. These findings point out that cyberbullying must be prioritized in public policy as part of an overall strategy for combating violence in childhood and adolescence, as well as gender-based and discriminatory violence.