Risk factors associated with cyberbullying victimization and perpetration among Taiwanese children
Abstract
In Taiwan, a previous study indicates that 18.4% of adolescents were cyberbullying victims, 5.8% were perpetrators, and 11.2% were both. The aims of the present study were to determine whether time spent online, risky Internet usage, and parental supervision were risk factors of cyberbullying victimization (study 1), explore the mechanism underlying the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration (study 2), and examine the risk factors (time spent online, risky usage, parental supervision, and emotional self-regulation) of cyberbullying among children, including bullies, victims, and bully-victims (study 3). A 2-wave de-identified secondary data analysis from an elementary school sample (220 5th grade students: Wave 1 and Wave 2, 238 6th grade students: Wave 1 only) in Taiwan was used. Logistic regression analysis, mediation analysis, and one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) were conducted. The results indicated that time spent online and risky usage increased the odds of cyberbullying victimization. However, parental supervision failed to predict future cyberbullying victimization (study 1). The association between cyber victimization and cyberbullying perpetration was mediated by emotional self-regulation (study 2). Compared to victim-onlys, bully-onlys, and neutrals (i.e., youth who experienced neither bullying victimization nor perpetration), bully-victims demonstrate higher amounts of time spent on the Internet, higher risky Internet usage, lower parental supervision, and lower emotional self-regulation (study 3). Combined, these studies make a significant contribution to the cyberbullying research. These findings may contribute to the development of effective education interventions in children’s Internet usage to avoid cyberbullying.
Subject Area
Social psychology|Multimedia Communications|Public health
Recommended Citation
Lin, Mi-Ting, "Risk factors associated with cyberbullying victimization and perpetration among Taiwanese children" (2016). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI10126751.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI10126751