The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of gender and gender stereotype traits (masculinity, femininity) in cyber victimization behaviors (cyber relational victimization, cyber verbal victimization, hacking) through different technologies (mobile phones, gaming consoles, social networking sites). There were 456 8th graders (226 females; M age = 13.66, SD = 0.41) from two midwestern middle schools in the United States included in this study. They completed questionnaires on their endorsement of masculine and feminine traits, and self-reported cyber victimization through different technologies. The findings revealed main effects of types of cyber victimization for boys and of technology for girls. In particular, boys with feminine traits experienced the most victimization by cyber verbal aggression, cyber relational aggression, and hacking when compared to the other groups of boys. Girls with feminine traits experienced the most cyber victimization through social networking sites, gaming consoles, and mobile phones in comparison to the other groups of girls. For girls with feminine traits, they reported more cyber relational victimization and cyber verbal victimization through mobile phones and social networking sites, as well as more hacking via social networking sites. Such findings underscore the importance of considering gender stereotype traits, types of victimization, and technologies when examining cyber victimization.
- MeSH
- Aggression MeSH
- Adolescent Behavior * MeSH
- Gender Identity * MeSH
- Cyberbullying psychology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Masculinity MeSH
- Crime Victims psychology MeSH
- Text Messaging MeSH
- Surveys and Questionnaires MeSH
- Bullying MeSH
- Schools MeSH
- Social Media * MeSH
- Stereotyping MeSH
- Video Games MeSH
- Self Report MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
This study investigated the role of medium (face-to-face, cyber) and publicity (public, private) in adolescents' perceptions of severity and coping strategies (i.e., avoidant, ignoring, helplessness, social support seeking, retaliation) for victimization, while accounting for gender and cultural values. There were 3432 adolescents (ages 11-15, 49% girls) in this study; they were from China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, and the United States. Adolescents completed questionnaires on individualism and collectivism, and ratings of coping strategies and severity for public face-to-face victimization, private face-to-face victimization, public cyber victimization, and private cyber victimization. Findings revealed similarities in adolescents' coping strategies based on perceptions of severity, publicity, and medium for some coping strategies (i.e., social support seeking, retaliation) but differential associations for other coping strategies (i.e., avoidance, helplessness, ignoring). The results of this study are important for prevention and intervention efforts because they underscore the importance of teaching effective coping strategies to adolescents, and to consider how perceptions of severity, publicity, and medium might influence the implementation of these coping strategies.
- MeSH
- Adaptation, Psychological MeSH
- Adolescent Behavior * MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Cyberbullying * MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Crime Victims * MeSH
- Bullying * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Cyber victimization research reveals various personal and contextual correlations and negative consequences associated with this experience. Despite increasing attention on cyber victimization, few studies have examined such experiences among ethnic minority adolescents. The purpose of the present study was to examine the moderating effect of ethnicity in the longitudinal associations among cyber victimization, school-belongingness, and psychological consequences (i.e., depression, loneliness, anxiety). These associations were investigated among 416 Latinx and white adolescents (46% female; M age = 13.89, SD = 0.41) from one middle school in the United States. They answered questionnaires on cyber victimization, school belongingness, depression, loneliness, and anxiety in the 7th grade (Time 1). One year later, in the 8th grade (Time 2), they completed questionnaires on depression, loneliness, and anxiety. Low levels of school-belongingness strengthened the positive relationships between cyber victimization and Time 2 depression and anxiety, especially among Latinx adolescents. The positive association between cyber victimization and Time 2 loneliness was strengthened for low levels of school-belongingness for all adolescents. These findings may indicate that cyber victimization threatens adolescents' school-belongingness, which has implications for their emotional adjustment. Such findings underscore the importance of considering diverse populations when examining cyber victimization.
- MeSH
- Adolescent Behavior psychology MeSH
- Depression MeSH
- Depressive Disorder MeSH
- Ethnicity MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Minority Groups MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Crime Victims psychology MeSH
- Loneliness * MeSH
- Surveys and Questionnaires MeSH
- Bullying statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Schools * MeSH
- Anxiety MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
The authors' aim was to investigate gender and cultural differences in the attributions used to determine causality for hypothetical public and private face-to-face and cyber victimization scenarios among 3,432 adolescents (age range = 11-15 years; 49% girls) from China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, and the United States, while accounting for their individualism and collectivism. Adolescents completed a questionnaire on cultural values and read four hypothetical victimization scenarios, including public face-to-face victimization, public cyber victimization, private face-to-face victimization, and private cyber victimization. After reading the scenarios, they rated different attributions (i.e., self-blame, aggressor-blame, joking, normative, conflict) according to how strongly they believed the attributions explained why victimization occurred. Overall, adolescents reported that they would utilize the attributions of self-blame, aggressor-blame, and normative more for public forms of victimization and face-to-face victimization than for private forms of victimization and cyber victimization. Differences were found according to gender and country of origin as well. Such findings underscore the importance of delineating between different forms of victimization when examining adolescents' attributions.
- MeSH
- Adolescent Behavior psychology MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Internet MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Crime Victims psychology MeSH
- Surveys and Questionnaires MeSH
- Sex Factors MeSH
- Bullying * MeSH
- Social Perception * MeSH
- Cross-Cultural Comparison * MeSH
- Peer Group MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
- China MeSH
- India MeSH
- Japan MeSH
- Cyprus MeSH
- United States MeSH
BACKGROUND: This study investigates both offline and online bullying perpetration and victimization in association with problematic internet use (PIU) and problematic smartphone use (PSU), while also considering the related psychosocial difficulties. METHODS: A total of 3939 adolescents (49.4% boys, aged 13-15 years) from a representative sample of schools in Slovakia was obtained from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) project in 2018. Due to the lack of similar complex research and the expected mutual associations among the constructs, we compared exploratory network models that provided separate estimates for boys and girls. RESULTS: The constructs formed similarly clustered networks for both genders, with a few notable differences. Unlike PIU, PSU was not associated with bullying experiences in boys or girls; however, PSU and PIU were partially related in girls. Bullying experiences formed a strong cluster in both networks. Two strong bridges were identified, and they are potential candidates for intervention in both boys and girls: first, traditional bullying victimization connected the cluster of bullying experiences to psychosocial difficulties; and, second, frequently missing sleep or meals due to internet use (behavioral salience) that is connected to the bullying cluster with PIU. CONCLUSIONS: The findings offer an indication for the preventive and interventive work of practitioners who deal with adolescents, as well as complex gender comparisons for the mutual relations of problematic internet and smartphone use, bullying experiences, and the psychosocial difficulties of youth. This study provides evidence that problematic digital media can play a role in bullying experiences irrespective of whether bullying happens offline or online.
- MeSH
- Smartphone MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Internet MeSH
- Cyberbullying * prevention & control psychology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Crime Victims * psychology MeSH
- Bullying * psychology MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Online hatred based on attributes, such as origin, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, has become a rising public concern across the world. Past research on aggressive behavior suggests strong associations between victimization and perpetration and that toxic online disinhibition and sex might influence this relationship. However, no study investigated both the relationship between online hate victimization and perpetration and the potential moderation effects of toxic online disinhibition on this relationship. To this end, the present study was conducted. The sample consists of 1,480 7th to 10th graders from Germany. Results revealed positive associations between online hate victimization and perpetration. Furthermore, the results support the idea that toxic online disinhibition and sex, by way of moderator effects, affect the relationship between online hate victimization and perpetration. Victims of online hate reported more online hate perpetration when they reported higher levels of online disinhibition and less frequent online hate perpetration when they reported lower levels of toxic online disinhibition. Additionally, the relationship between online hate victimization and perpetration was significantly greater among boys than among girls. Taken together, our results extend previous findings to online hate involvement among adolescents and substantiate the importance to conduct more research on online hate. In addition, our findings highlight the need for prevention and intervention programs that help adolescents deal with the emerging issue of online hate.
- MeSH
- Aggression MeSH
- Inhibition, Psychological * MeSH
- Internet MeSH
- Cyberbullying psychology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Hate * MeSH
- Crime Victims psychology MeSH
- Sexual Behavior psychology MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Germany MeSH
The goal of this three-year longitudinal study was to examine the buffering effect of parental mediation of adolescents' technology use (i.e., restrictive, co-viewing, and instructive) on the relationships among cyber aggression involvement and substance use (i.e., alcohol use, marijuana use, cigarette smoking, and non-marijuana illicit drug use). Overall, 867 (Mage = 13.67, age range from 13-15 years, 51% female, 49% White) 8th grade adolescents from the Midwestern United States participated in this study during the 6th grade (Wave 1), 7th grade (Wave 2), and 8th grade (Wave 3). Results revealed that higher levels of Wave 2 instructive mediation weakened the association between Wave 1 cyber victimization and Wave 3 alcohol use and Wave 3 non-marijuana illicit drug use. The relationship was stronger between Wave 1 cyber victimization and Wave 3 alcohol use and Wave 3 non-marijuana illicit drug use when adolescents reported lower levels of Wave 2 instructive mediation. At lower levels of Wave 2 instructive mediation, the association between Wave 1 cyber aggression perpetration and Wave 3 non-marijuana illicit drug use was stronger. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of parents recognizing their role in helping to mitigate the negative consequences associated with adolescents' cyber aggression involvement.
- MeSH
- Aggression * MeSH
- Confidentiality MeSH
- Cyberbullying * MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Longitudinal Studies MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Crime Victims MeSH
- Substance-Related Disorders psychology MeSH
- Parents * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Midwestern United States MeSH
Little attention has been given academically to empirically tested theoretical frameworks that aim at measuring the risk of adolescents falling victim to cybergrooming. To this end, we have applied the routine activity theory (RAT) to investigate whether exposure to motivated offenders (PC/laptop ownership and Internet access in one's own bedroom), capable guardianship (parental mediation strategies of Internet use), and target suitability (adolescents' online disclosure of private information) might predict cybergrooming victimization among adolescents. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of 5,938 adolescents from Germany, India, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, and the United States, ranging in age from 12 to 18 (M = 14.77, SD = 1.60), we found that PC/laptop ownership and Internet access in one's own bedroom, parental mediation, and online disclosure are all directly associated with cybergrooming victimization. Although instructive parental mediation is negatively related to online disclosure and cybergrooming victimization, restrictive mediation is positively related to both. In addition, online disclosure partially mediated the relationship between parental mediation and cybergrooming victimization. The analyses confirm the effectiveness of applying RAT to cybergrooming. Moreover, this study highlights the need for prevention programs, including lessons on age-appropriate information and communication technology usage and access, to educate parents on using instructive strategies of Internet mediation, and inform adolescents about how to avoid disclosing too much private information online. RAT could function as a theoretical framework for these programs.
- MeSH
- Adolescent Behavior psychology MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Internet statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Cyberbullying psychology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Crime Victims psychology MeSH
- Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
- Parenting psychology MeSH
- Self Disclosure MeSH
- Privacy psychology MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- India MeSH
- Republic of Korea MeSH
- Germany MeSH
- Spain MeSH
- United States MeSH
- Thailand MeSH
Příspěvek se zaměřuje na vybrané strategie manipulace dětí v online prostředích se zaměřením na tzv. kybergrooming. Termínem kybergrooming označujeme chování uživatelů internetu, které má přimět vyhlédnutou dětskou oběť k osobní schůzce v reálném světě (výsledkem schůzky může být sexuální zneužití, fyzický útok, pořizování dětské pornografie, dětská prostituce apod.). Příspěvek se zaměřuje na vybrané techniky, které se k útokům na děti využívají, popisuje rovněž vybrané případy, v rámci kterých byly techniky útoku zneužity.
Cyber grooming (child grooming, grooming) represents the Internet users' behaviour (predators, cyber groomers) which is supposed to raise false confidence and make victim come to a secret personal meeting. The sexual abuse of the victim, physical violence or child prostitution and pornography abuse might be the results of this rendezvous which means that cyber grooming is a kind of psychological manipulation carried out through the internet, mobile phones and other relevant technologies. The paper also focuses on examples of manipulation connected with attacks to children. The last part of paper describes featured cases of cybergrooming.
- Keywords
- kybernetická kriminalita, webcam trolling, child grooming,
- MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Trust MeSH
- Internet * MeSH
- Behavior Control MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Child Abuse, Sexual MeSH
- Social Networking MeSH
- Crime MeSH
- Child Abuse * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Publication type
- Review MeSH
A substantial amount of research has revealed that cyberbully-victims have more emotional and behavioral problems than either cyberbullying victims or perpetrators. However, until now, little research has been conducted into the factors that contribute to the interplay between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cyberbullying victimization, perpetration, and two emotional components of alexithymia, namely difficulties in identifying and describing one's own feelings. Self-report questions were administered to 1549 adolescents between 12 and 18 years old (M = 14.51; SD = 1.68; 42.1% (n = 652) male) from Germany and Thailand. Results showed that cyberbullying victimization and alexithymia are associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Moreover, alexithymia mediated the associations between cyberbullying victimization and adolescents' cyberbullying perpetration. Consequently, we suggest that the ability to describe and identify one's own feelings might be important for understanding the link between cyberbullying, victimization, and perpetration. The results may help develop prevention and intervention programs focused on reducing cyberbullying.
- MeSH
- Affective Symptoms psychology MeSH
- Adolescent Behavior psychology MeSH
- Internet * MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Crime Victims psychology MeSH
- Problem Behavior psychology MeSH
- Risk Factors MeSH
- Bullying * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Multicenter Study MeSH
- Geographicals
- Germany MeSH
- Thailand MeSH