Nonconsensual Dissemination of Sexual Images Among Adolescents: Associations With Depression and Self-Esteem.

The nonconsensual dissemination of sexual images is a form of image-based sexual abuse that is relatively common among adolescents. However, literature on this issue with adolescent samples is relatively scarce. Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating how this phenomenon varies based on gender and sexual orientation, along with its association with depression and self-esteem. Participants were 728 secondary school students in Sweden (50.4% girls and 46.4% boys; 14.4% lesbian, gay, bisexual [LGB+]) aged from 12 to 19 years (M = 14.35, SD = 1.29). A survey was administered during school hours, including a measure assessing the nonconsensual dissemination of sexual images, the short version of the Moods and Feelings Questionnaire, and the Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale. Results showed that LGB+ participants were more likely to indicate that they were victimized compared to their heterosexual peers, while no differences were observed for gender. Being the target of nonconsensual dissemination of sexual images was positively associated with depression, whereas no significant associations were yielded for self-esteem. Based on the findings from this study, we suggest raising adolescent awareness in relation to the nonconsensual dissemination of sexual images as a form of sexual abuse that can have detrimental effects on those who are targeted. Such educational programs should be inclusive of sexual minority adolescents, as they are at a particular risk of being the target of nonconsensual dissemination of sexual images. Psychological support should be provided to the targets of this form of abuse, through both school and online counseling. Future research should adopt longitudinal designs while recruiting diverse samples.

Dublin Anti-Bullying Self-Efficacy Scales: Bifactor and Item Response Theory Models.

Dublin Anti-Bullying Self-Efficacy Scales aim to measure the effectiveness of school anti-bullying programs in promoting five steps that victims and bystanders take against online and offline bullying behaviors. These steps are anti-bullying self-efficacy beliefs to recognize bullying behaviors, comprehend emergency, take responsibility, know what to do, and intervene. However, when an anti-bullying program is very effective for the majority of participants who give high scores, a considerable number of participants who give low scores are very likely to be detected as outliers. This raises two measurement issues. First, high scores create highly negatively skewed data and lead to measuring a unidimensional rather than multidimensional construct. This could be one reason why recent research has been unclear about the extent to which the scales measure a unidimensional, multidimensional, or bifactor construct. Second, should outliers be removed or be considered as participants for whom the program was ineffective? If the scales had measurement invariance across the group of outliers and non-outliers or low and high self-efficacy, it could be concluded that the anti-bullying program was ineffective for some participants. The current research aims to address these issues by testing both measurement invariance as well as unidimensional and bifactor models of anti-bullying self-efficacy. Results of Pure Exploratory Bifactor (PEBI) Analyses and Item Response Theory (IRT) with Two-Parameter-Logistic (2PL) Models of data from a convenience sample of 14-year-old students in Ireland (N = 1,222) indicated sufficient psychometric properties of both unidimensional and multidimensional scales for victim offline, victim online, bystander offline, and bystander online. Further research can use these scales for measuring the bifactor model of anti-bullying self-efficacy as well as the cut-off score for distinguishing between low and high anti-bullying self-efficacy.

Dublin Anti-Bullying Self-Efficacy Models and Scales: Development and Validation.

Literature on anti-bullying programs shows a growing consensus about promoting victims and bystanders' self-efficacy against bullying, but provides no theoretical model nor measurement scale to assess the extent of achieving this aim. The current research aims to address these theoretical and empirical gaps by proposing the Dublin Anti-Bullying Self-Efficacy Models and Scales, using a convenience sample of 14-year-old students in Ireland (N = 1,100). After establishing both content and face validity, four separate scales were tested to measure anti-bullying self-efficacy beliefs among offline victims (20-item), online victims (20-item), offline bystanders (20-item), and online bystanders (20-item). Thereafter, four separate exploratory factor analyses of the scale items were followed by reflective measurement analyses of their internal consistency and construct (convergent and discriminant) validity. Results indicated sufficient psychometric properties of each scale measuring five dimensions of anti-bullying self-efficacy: recognition, emergency comprehension, responsibility, knowledge, and intervention. Further research is needed to test the proposed model and scale for assessing effectiveness of an anti-bullying program in promoting self-efficacy beliefs.

Parental mediation in pandemic: Predictors and relationship with children's digital skills and time spent online in Ireland.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing reliance on digital technology to carry out social, entertainment, work and school activities increased, which may have affected the ways in which parents mediated their children's digital technology use. Given the prominent role that digital technology will have in the future, it is important to investigate parent and child characteristics which impacted parental mediation of children's digital technology use. Therefore, the present study aimed at analysing the frequency of parental mediation strategies (i.e. active and restrictive) during lockdown, their determinants, and how the two strategies affected children's digital skills and time spent online. Data were collected from 461 parent and 461 child participants. Results showed that almost half of parents (46%) practiced parental mediation with the same frequency, while the 42.6% applied it more often. Active mediation was predicted by parental worries about online risks, while restrictive mediation was predicted by time spent online by children, parental worries about online risks, parental negative attitudes towards digital technology and parents' digital skills. Children developed more digital skills when their parents applied higher levels of both active and restrictive mediation, and they spent the lowest amount of time online when their parents employed higher levels of restrictive and lower levels of active mediation. Practical implications for families and children's wellbeing are discussed.

Sex Differences in Adolescent Bullying Behaviours / Las diferencias de sexo en las conductas de acoso de los adolescentes

In recent decades there has been a progressive increase in concern and research into the problems of peer aggression, both in the educational setting and more recently, online. The present study sought to explore sex differences in traditional bullying and cyberbullying, since current literature has not reached a consensus in how bullying involvement could be moderated by sex. The sample consisted of 3,174 adolescents aged 12-17 years old who completed a paper survey which included the European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire. The main results found no differences in cyberbullying rates for boys and girls. In the case of bullying, there were more bully-victims among the boys, but no differences were found in the pure victims or pure perpetrators. When analysing the specific bullying behaviours suffered or perpetrated, several differences were found. However, said differences were discrete and it seems that there are not distinctly differentiated bullying patterns, which discourages the use of clearly differentiated preventive strategies for boys and girls. (AU)

En las últimas décadas ha ido creciendo la preocupación por las agresiones entre iguales y su investigación, tanto en el propio entorno escolar como, más recientemente, a través de la red. El presente estudio se planteó con el objetivo de explorar las diferencias de sexo tanto en el acoso tradicional como en el ciberacoso, pues la bibliografía existente no llega a un consenso sobre la forma en que la implicación en el acoso puede estar siendo moderada por el sexo o el género. La muestra constó de 3,174 adolescentes de 12 a 17 años que cumplimentaron por escrito una encuesta que incluía el European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire y el European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire. Los principales resultados no mostraron diferencias en las tasas de ciberacoso de chicas y chicos. Respecto al acoso tradicional, aunque se han hallado más víctimas-agresoras en los chicos, no se han encontrado diferencias en la tasa de víctimas y agresores puros. Al analizar las conductas específicas sufridas o perpetradas, se encontraron varias diferencias entre chicas y chicos. Sin embargo, esas diferencias eran pequeñas y no parece que haya un patrón de acoso claramente diferenciado, lo que desaconseja emplear estrategias preventivas claramente diferenciadas para chicas y para chicos. (AU)

Cyberbullies, the Cyberbullied, and Problematic Internet Use: Some Reasonable Similarities.

BACKGROUND: The spread of the internet and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have completely changed society in the last few decades. The transfer of traditional face-to-face bullying to the virtual environment is one of the risks adolescents face in this new reality. The present study sought to explore the relationship between involvement in cyberbullying and behaviours such as internet and mobile usage and other risky online behaviours. METHOD: The sample consisted of 3,188 adolescents aged 12-17 years old (Mean= 14.44; SD= 1.67). RESULTS: The application of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ) found that 5.2% were victims, 4.5% perpetrators and 4.3% bully-victims. CONCLUSIONS: Results also showed that cyberbullying seems to be associated with both Problematic Internet Use and behaviours such as sexting, gambling and contacting strangers, which suggests a need for a comprehensive approach for preventing all these issues. Moreover, parental monitoring could serve as a modulating factor, which should also be taken into account in the development of appropriate prevention strategies.

Children's Internet Use, Self-Reported Life Satisfaction, and Parental Mediation in Europe: An Analysis of the EU Kids Online Dataset.

The present research examines how children's time spent online is associated with their perceived life satisfaction accounting for their age, gender, socio-economic status (SES), emotional problems, country, and family environmental factors. This article is based on the data of the large scale cross-sectional EU Kids Online survey from 16 European countries with nationally representative samples of children aged 9-17 (N = 11,200, M age = 13.3, SD = 2.36; 50.6% boys, 49.4% girls). The results indicated that the time children spent online appeared to have no considerable negative effect on their self-reported life satisfaction (SRLS). Comparatively, the positive effects of children's SES and family environment accounted for 43% of the overall 50% of the variance in children's SRLS scores. Considering that children's SES alone accounted for 42% of the variance, children's emotional problems, country of residence, and enabling parental mediation accounted for the remaining 3, 4, and 1% of the variance, respectively. In line with previous studies that urge caution when discussing the negative influence of time spent online on children's mental health and overall wellbeing, the current findings suggest that social-ecological characteristics and how children use the Internet, need to be examined further.

Cyberbullies, the Cyberbullied, and Problematic Internet Use: Some Reasonable Similarities / Ciberacosados, Ciberacosadores y Uso Problemático de Internet: Algunos Parecidos Razonables

Background: The spread of the internet and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have completely changed society inthe last few decades. The transfer of traditional face-to-face bullying to the virtual environment is one of the risks adolescents face in this new reality. The present study sought to explore the relationship between involvement in cyberbullying and behaviours such as internet and mobile usage and other risky online behaviours. Method: The sample consisted of 3,188 adolescents aged 12-17 years old (Mean= 14.44; SD= 1.67). Results: The application of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ) found that 5.2% were victims, 4.5% perpetrators and 4.3% bully-victims. Conclusions: Results also showed that cyberbullying seems to be associated with both Problematic Internet Use and behaviours such as sexting, gambling and contacting strangers, which suggests a need for a comprehensive approach for preventing all these issues. Moreover, parental monitoring could serve as a modulating factor, which should also be taken into account in the development of appropriate prevention strategies. (AU)

Antecedentes: el uso generalizado de Internet y de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (TIC) ha cambiado completamente la sociedad en las últimas décadas. La transferencia del tradicional acoso escolar al entorno virtual es uno de los riesgos a los que se enfrentan los adolescentes en esta nueva realidad. El presente estudio se planteó como objetivo explorar la relación entre ciberacoso y uso de Internet y teléfono móvil y otras conductas de riesgo en línea. Método: la muestra estuvo compuesta por 3.188 adolescentes de entre 12 y 17 años (Media= 14,44; DT= 1,67). Resultados: tras aplicar el European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ) se encontró que el 5,2% eran víctimas, 4,5% agresores y el 4,3% víctimasagresoras. Conclusiones: el ciberacoso parece estar asociado tanto al uso problemático de Internet como a comportamientos como el sexting, el juego online o el contacto con desconocidos a través de la Red, lo que sugiere la necesidad de un enfoque integral a nivel de prevención. Además, la supervisión parental constituiría un importante elemento modulador, lo cual debe ser tenido en cuenta para la elaboración de estrategias preventivas efi caces. (AU)

Bullying by siblings and peers: Poly-setting victimization and the association with problem behaviours and depression.

BACKGROUND: In recent times, sibling bullying has emerged of interest to researchers concerned with the emotional and behavioural implications for victimization regardless of type and setting. AIMS: This research attempts to extend current knowledge on both peer and sibling bullying and to determine the effects of poly-setting victimization. This paper is concerned with the following objectives: (1) determining the current rate of bullying and victimization among siblings and peers in a large sample of adolescents; (2) investigating the relationship between sibling and peer bullying and depression and behaviour; (3) highlighting the carry-over effects of bullying from one setting to another; and (4) determining the overall association of poly-setting victimization with depression and behaviour. SAMPLE AND METHODS: Over 2,000 adolescents aged between 12 and 15 years participated in an online survey. RESULTS: Results found lower rates of sibling bullying compared to international studies. Sibling victims of bullying were at increased risk of becoming peer victims. Poor friendship quality, disliking school, along with peer and sibling bullying involvement predicted scores in the clinical range for outcome measures of internalizing and externalizing problem. CONCLUSIONS: The current study has clinical and educational implications for working with all important stakeholders (i.e., schools, parents, siblings) to reduce bullying and improve mental health.

Friendship Quality and Gender Differences in Association With Cyberbullying Involvement and Psychological Well-Being.

Current literature has documented the detrimental effects of cyberbullying which include a range of internalizing and externalizing problems for those involved. Although critical, this research can sometimes ignore social-ecological aspects of a child's life that can potentially 'buffer' the negative psychological effects of such involvement. With this in mind, this cross-sectional investigation of 12-16 year olds [M(SD): 13.5(1) years] in Ireland focused on the role of friendship quality and gender in association with cyberbullying involvement and psychological well-being (N = 2410). The Cyberbullying and Online Aggression Scale was used to measure cyber perpetration and victimization. A modified version of the Cambridge Friendship Questionnaire was included to investigate peer friendship quality. Finally, the Moods and Feeling Questionnaire and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were chosen to provide a measurement of psychological well-being. Prevalence rates for various types of cyberbullying roles (cyber bullies, victims and bully/victims) are presented, as well as differences for psychological well-being, friendship quality and cyberbullying involvement. In addition, regression models were used to determine the associations between gender, age, friendship quality and involvement in cyberbullying with psychological well-being. The results are considered in terms of the current literature and directions for future research are suggested.

Corrigendum: Friendship Quality and Gender Differences in Association With Cyberbullying Involvement and Psychological Well-Being.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01723.].

Bullying and cyberbullying studies in the school-aged population on the island of Ireland: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Bullying research has gained a substantial amount of interest in recent years because of the implications for child and adolescent development. AIM AND SAMPLE: We conducted a meta-analysis of traditional and cyberbullying studies in the Republic and North of Ireland to gain an understanding of prevalence rates and associated issues (particularly psychological correlates and intervention strategies) among young people (primary and secondary school students). METHOD: Four electronic databases were searched (PsychArticles, ERIC, PsychInfo and Education Research Complete) for studies of traditional bullying and cyberbullying behaviours (perpetrators, victims or both) published between January 1997 and April 2016. RESULTS: A final sample of 39 articles fit our selection criteria. CMA software was used to estimate a pooled prevalence rate for traditional/cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. A systematic review on the psychological impacts for all types of bullying and previously used interventions in an Irish setting is also provided. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate the influence moderating factors (e.g., assessment tools, answer scale, time frame) have on reported prevalence rates. These results are discussed in light of current studies, and points for future research are considered.