The Short-term Effects of a Cyberbullying Prevention Intervention for Parents of Middle School Students

Recommendations for cyberbullying prevention and intervention: A Western Canadian perspective from key stakeholders

Introduction

Cyberbullying, or repeatedly communicating antagonistic messages using digital or electronic media meant to deal out harm or discomfort to others, has been considered more pervasive and impactful than traditional bullying since perpetrators can remain anonymous online, are not bound by time or place. In addition, cyberbullied youth are reluctant to involve others such as an adult or confront the perpetrator adults. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to capture a holistic understanding of potential youth cyberbullying prevention and intervention strategies (i.e., inhibiting forces that may reduce cyberbullying) from key stakeholders with professional knowledge about cyberbullying (i.e., educational administration, psychological counseling, technology and bullying education consultation, policing, research, and social support services).

Methods

Twenty (n = 20) participants were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling techniques from both urban and rural school districts in one Western Canadian province to participate in either in a semi-structured individual interview (n = 16) or a scheduled focus group (n = 4) to achieve depth and understanding of cyberbullying issues. The I³ Model, a process-oriented metatheory of aggression with the potential to explain how cyberbullying behaviors continue to occur, was used as a frame to analyze the qualitatively gathered data using six phases of reflexive thematic analysis.

Results

Participants identified educational efforts related to awareness of cyberbullying and consequences of perpetration, digital citizenship programming for students and social skills training, providing remediation to youth who are in online conflict with one another, and parental engagement with the technology used by their youth as key factors in mitigating instances of cyberbullying.

Discussion

This study furthers research on cyberbullying prevention and intervention in schools by illuminating experiences from under researched and unique stakeholders in the field. These key findings and suggestions for future research are further discussed.

Family and Educational Strategies for Cyberbullying Prevention: A Systematic Review

Cyberbullying can be described as a form of bullying carried out by an individual or a group through digital media with the intention to harm others. It has been recognized as a public health issue recently; however, of the vast literature published in recent years on the phenomenon, only a small part concerns strategies adopted to prevent and combat cyberbullying, and the effectiveness of these strategies appears to be scarce. We conducted a systematic review of the literature published in the last five years about different interventions studied to prevent and contrast cyberbullying. Our results show how most of the strategies currently developed focus on the educational aspect, involving schools and families. Other authors describe technology-based practices to set programs to reduce and prevent cyberbullying through the usage of digital instruments, the same used by minors themselves. Finally, remaining tactics use a more comprehensive approach, mixing tools already in use in the aforementioned strategies. Cyberbullying requires wide-ranging methods to combat it, involving the contribution of mental health professionals, educators, and digital experts cooperating synergically. Prevention and contrast instruments should be defined, implemented, tested, and combined in order to deal with cyberbullying.

Ideas for addressing electronic harassment among adolescents attending a video blogging convention

Background

Electronic harassment affects 20–40% of adolescents and has been associated with significant negative outcomes including physical (ex. headache, abdominal pain), psychological (ex. depression, anxiety), and psychosocial (ex. school avoidance) problems. Evidence-based strategies to address electronic harassment are lacking, and few studies have incorporated adolescent input into intervention design. The purpose of this study was to use a novel data collection approach to determine perspectives on electronic harassment intervention and prevention from a targeted group of highly engaged adolescent technology users.

Methods

We conducted a qualitative survey of a purposeful sample of adolescents age 14 to 18 who were attending a video blogger convention in Seattle, Washington. Participants were approached by research staff and asked to read a vignette about an adolescent target of electronic harassment, then write down ideas for helping the target and/or preventing the scenario. Written responses were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach with an iterative comparative method to resolve any code discrepancies. We subsequently categorized codes into thematic code families to reach consensus about significant themes.

Results

67 eligible adolescents completed the survey. 91% of participants were female with a mean age of 15.3 years (SD = 1.3). Code families emerged regarding people who could be involved in responses to electronic harassment: (1) Individuals targeted by electronic harassment, (2) Friends and bystanders, (3) Adults, and (4) Social media websites and policymakers.

Conclusions

Findings demonstrate adolescent technology users’ views on several creative strategies to prevent or intervene with electronic harassment. These strategies can be categorized using a socioecological framework, demonstrating potential to address electronic harassment on multiple levels. Many suggested responses involved the target of electronic harassment, rather than the perpetrator; future education efforts may require additional focus on perpetrators for more upstream prevention.