Comparing cyberbullying prevalence and process before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
J Soc Psychol
; 161(4): 408-418, 2021 Jul 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1269411
ABSTRACT
The psychological consequences of the global COVID-19 pandemic are just now starting to be understood; however, the behavioral consequences are less understood. Thus, the current report examined whether cyberbullying processes and frequency are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared US adult participant data from six months before the start of the pandemic (July 2019; n = 181) to data collected in the middle of the pandemic (May, 2020; n = 173) to determine if there are any significant differences in anonymity perceptions, belief in the irrelevance of muscularity for online bullying (BIMOB), cyberbullying attitudes, and cyberbullying perpetration. Results showed that there were significant increases in BIMOB, cyberbullying attitudes, and cyberbullying perpetration during the pandemic, but no significant change for anonymity perceptions. Further, the relationships between several variables germane to cyberbullying perpetration prediction were stronger during the pandemic than before. Overall, these findings add to our understanding of the behavioral impact the COVID-19 pandemic has on US adults.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cyberbullying
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Soc Psychol
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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