Cyber Bullying and Internalizing Difficulties: Above ...

Cyber Bullying and Internalizing Difficulties: Above and Beyond the Impact of Traditional Forms of Bullying Rina A. Bonanno & Shelley Hymel

Journal of Youth and Adolescence A Multidisciplinary Research Publication ISSN 0047-2891 Volume 42 Number 5 J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:685-697 DOI 10.1007/s10964-013-9937-1

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Author's personal copy J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:685–697 DOI 10.1007/s10964-013-9937-1

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Cyber Bullying and Internalizing Difficulties: Above and Beyond the Impact of Traditional Forms of Bullying Rina A. Bonanno • Shelley Hymel

Received: 30 January 2013 / Accepted: 11 March 2013 / Published online: 20 March 2013 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Abstract Although recent research has demonstrated significant links between involvement in cyber bullying and various internalizing difficulties, there exists debate as to whether these links are independent of involvement in more traditional forms of bullying. The present study systematically examined the association between involvement in cyber bullying, as either a victim or a bully, and both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. Selfreport data were collected from 399 (57 % female) Canadian adolescents in grades 8–10 (mean age = 14.2 years, SD = .91 years). Results indicated that involvement in cyber bullying, as either a victim or a bully, uniquely contributed to the prediction of both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation, over and above the contribution of involvement in traditional forms of bullying (physical, verbal, relational). Given the ever increasing rate of accessibility to technology in both schools and homes, these finding underscore the importance of addressing cyber bullying, with respect to both research and intervention, as a unique phenomenon with equally unique

The research reported herein was completed as part of the doctoral research of the first author. Portions of this research were presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Montreal, Quebec, March, 2011. R. A. Bonanno (&) Department of Human Development and Learning, Dowling College, School of Education, 150 Idle Hour Blvd., Oakdale, NY 11769, USA e-mail: [email protected] S. Hymel Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada e-mail: [email protected]

challenges for students, parents, school administrators and researchers alike. Keywords Cyber bullying Cyber victimization Depression Suicidal ideation

Introduction During the last decade, a relatively new form of bullying has raised concerns among students, parents, teachers and school administrators—cyber bullying, also referred to as electronic or Internet bullying. While a clear and agreed upon definition of the construct has yet to emerge (see Smith et al. 2013), cyber bullying is broadly defined as using electronic means to harm intentionally an intended target (victim). Although prevalence rates vary considerably across countries and measures (see Smith and Slonje 2010 for a review), from 1 % (Balding 2005, in the UK) to 62 % of youth reporting cyber victimization (Vandebosch and Van Cleemput 2009, in Belgium), cyber bullying is typically the least frequent form of bullying reported, relative to more traditional or face-to-face forms of bullying (e.g., Smith et al. 2008; Williams and Guerra 2007). Nevertheless, research has demonstrated significant associations between cyber victimization and serious internalizing difficulties such as depression (Olenik-Shemesh et al. 2012; Perren et al. 2010; Ybarra and Mitchell 2004) and suicidality (Hinduja and Patchin 2010; Schneider et al. 2012). Similar links (as summarized below) have been documented for traditional forms of bullying. The present study extends this research by investigating whether involvement in cyber bullying (as either a victim or a bully) contributes to internalizing difficulties over and above involvement in traditional forms of bullying.

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Although some researchers (e.g., Beran and Li 2005; Li 2007) suggest that online aggression is simply a different form of social or relational bullying (bullying through manipulation of social relationships, including gossip, exclusion, humiliation, etc.) expressed in a virtual environment, others have found that cyber victimization is a distinct latent construct separate from both relational and more direct physical or verbal victimization (e.g., Dempsey et al. 2009; Law et al. 2012). There are several unique features of cyber bullying that distinguish it from more traditional or face-to-face forms of bullying, making it especially challenging for victims and possibly easier for perpetrators (see Smith and Slonje 2010 for a fuller discussion). Most notably, perpetrators of cyber bullying enjoy a degree of anonymity and invisibility that is not always possible with more traditional or face-to-face forms of bullying, and which also can make them less aware of the impact of their behavior on victims. For the victim, cyber bullying is pervasive and persistent; once a cyberattack is launched, it is difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate. Cyber bullying also takes place on a virtual playground that makes it possible to victimize a peer within the sanctity of one’s own home, at any time of the day or night, in complete anonymity, and with maximal exposure and hence potential embarrassment for the intended target. As a result, the impact of cyber victimization can be (or can be perceived to be) far more negative than that of traditional forms of bullying, and victims may have a much more difficult time coping. As Smith and Slonje (2010) note, with cyber bullying there is ‘‘no place to hide’’ (p. 259) and the potential audience is infinite. Empirically, recent research also has documented some unique features of cyber bullying that distinguish it from other forms of peer victimization. Factor analytic research with a large sample of adolescents by Law et al. (2012) has demonstrated that the distinctions between victim and perpetrator are less clear with cyber bullying than with more traditional forms of bullying. Consistent with other research (Kowalski and Limber 2007; Werner et al. 2010; Ybarra and Mitchell 2004), Law and colleagues reported that, with cyber bullying, youth appear to be engaged in a reciprocal give-and-take in which it may be difficult to determine who started the exchange. Perhaps as a result this blurring of distinctions between victim and perpetrator in cyber bullying, reactions to being victimized electronically have been shown to vary across individuals. Indeed, although the majority of cyber victims (65 %) report feeling threatened or worried and well over a third report feelings of distress (Ybarra et al. 2006), some victims of cyber bullying report being relatively unaffected (e.g., Hinduja and Patchin 2007; Patchin and Hinduja 2006), whereas others report feeling angry (e.g., Beran and Li 2005; Campbell et al. 2012; Ortega et al. 2012). The above

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research, coupled with anecdotal evidence from several high profile cases involving youth who have committed suicide after being victims of cyber bullying, suggests that cyber bullying may indeed differ from traditional forms of bullying, but may nevertheless have equally serious consequences associated with it, at least for some individuals. The aim of the present research is to evaluate the relative and unique contributions of cyber victimization and cyber bullying to the prediction of internalizing difficulties. One impetus for this research is recent arguments put forward by Olweus (2012) regarding the impact of cyber bullying relative to traditional forms of bullying. Specifically, Olweus suggests that claims regarding cyber bullying ‘‘are greatly exaggerated’’ (p. 520), which he contends could result in channelling resources in the ‘‘wrong direction’’ to the detriment of anti-bullying work geared at traditional bullying, ‘‘which is clearly the most prevalent and most serious problem’’ (p. 535). Olweus bases his argument, in part, on the fact that some of the reported consequences associated with cyber bullying actually may be the result of an overlap in victimization whereby cyber victims are also victims of traditional forms of bullying. Accordingly, the present study examined the relationship between involvement in cyber bullying and internalizing difficulties, with particular interest in determining whether cyber victimization and cyber bullying contribute to the prediction of depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation over and above the contribution of more traditional forms of bullying. Traditional Forms of Bullying and Associated Consequences and Correlates During the last 40 years, a growing body of research has documented the concurrent and long-term consequences of school bullying, with victimized children being at risk for a host of negative outcomes ranging from poorer school adjustment (Nansel et al. 2003), increased school absenteeism (Juvonen et al. 2000), loneliness (Nansel et al. 2001) and low self-worth (Mynard et al. 2000) to poorer physical and mental health (Rigby 1999), including anxiety (Graham and Juvonen 1998) and depression (Kumpulainen et al. 2001; van der Wal et al. 2003). Some studies also have linked involvement in bullying to suicidality (Bonanno and Hymel 2010; Klomek et al. 2007; van der Wal et al. 2003). For example, in a sample of 2,342 high-school students, Klomek et al. found that, the more frequently youth were victimized, the greater their risk for suicidal ideation as well as depression. Thus, the links between traditional bullying and internalizing difficulties have been established fairly well. Other research has shown that particular forms or types of traditional victimization and/or aggression are related

Author's personal copy J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:685–697

differentially to internalizing problems. For example, Crick and Grotpeter (1996) found that both overt (direct physical or verbal) and relational forms of victimization uniquely predicted depression in their sample of 474 third through sixth-grade children, yet only relational victimization uniquely predicted social anxiety, social avoidance and loneliness. Dempsey et al. (2011) found that, among 1,352 middle and high school students, overt (direct physical or verbal) but not relational forms of victimization were related to increased suicidal ideation and self-reported suicide attempts. Associated risks also differ as a function of whether one is a perpetrator or victim. Indeed, in a study of 4,811 children aged 9–13, van der Wal et al. (2003) found that associations between involvement in bullying and psychosocial health (e.g., depression, suicidal ideation, and delinquency) differed depending on whether involvement was direct or indirect. Indirect victimization (social, relational) was associated more strongly with depression and suicidal ideation than was direct (physical or verbal) victimization, whereas direct bullying was associated more strongly with suicidal ideation for the aggressor. Taken together, these studies suggest that the negative internalizing outcomes associated with involvement in bullying may vary as a function of both the role played (bully vs. victim) and the type of aggression. Extending this literature, the present study examined the association of involvement in cyber bullying (as a victim or a bully) and both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. Cyber Bullying and Associated Consequences and Correlates Several studies over the past decade have explored the links between cyber victimization and various types of internalizing difficulties. In a study of 242 Israeli youth, Olenik-Shemesh et al. (2012) found that cyber victimization was related significantly to both loneliness and depressive mood. In contrast, depressive mood was not found to be related significantly to traditional forms of victimization. In a study that directly compared cyber victims with victims of traditional bullying, Campbell et al. (2012) found that, among 3,112 Australian youth, cyber victims reported significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression, along with more social difficulties, than did victims of traditional bullying. Another study by Klomek et al. (2008) investigated the relationship between various forms of victimization (including being bullied by email or the Internet) and depression, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among 2,342 American adolescents. Compared to non-victimized students, all forms of frequent victimization were found to be related to increased risk of depression and suicidality. Further, the more types of victimization a student experienced, the greater their risk for depression and

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suicidality. Considering survey data from 20,406 American youth, Schneider et al. (2012) demonstrated an increased likelihood of psychological distress, including suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, for victims of either cyber or school bullying. They also found a substantial overlap in victimization, with 36 % of school bullying victims also reporting being victims of cyber bullying. Victims of both forms of bullying were found to be four times more likely to report depression and suicidal ideation, and five times more likely to report a suicide attempt compared to nonvictims. Based on these studies, it seems that both traditional and electronic forms of victimization place students at risk for internalizing difficulties, and that being victimized by both forms place students at even greater risk. However, children who are victimized are not the only ones at risk for internalizing difficulties. Hinduja and Patchin (2010) investigated the relationship between suicidality and involvement in traditional bullying or cyber bullying as either a victim or a bully. They found that, in comparison to non-involved youth, higher levels of suicidal ideation were observed for those reporting involvement as either a victim or bully of cyber or traditional forms of bullying. Still, regardless of the type of victimization (traditional or cyber), victims were found to be at greater risk for suicidality. Other cyber victimization research has focused on youth who are both victims and perpetrators (bully-victims) of cyber bullying, given evidence from studies of traditional bullying demonstrating that bullyvictims are at greatest risk for internalizing difficulties (Kim et al. 2005; Menesini et al. 2009). In one of the first studies to examine empirically the association between Internet harassment and psychosocial difficulties, Ybarra and Mitchell (2004) considered a sample of 1,501 regular Internet users between the ages of 10 and 17 years, with 19 % of the young people surveyed reporting involvement in online aggression. They found that, compared to targets of cyber-aggression (victims), aggressor-targets (bullyvictims) were nearly six times more likely to report emotional distress. Although limited by the dichotomous nature of the measure used to assess involvement in online aggression, Ybarra and Mitchell’s study suggests that cyber bully-victims may be at particular risk for internalizing difficulties. However, in a nationally representative sample of 7,313 American youth, Wang, Nansel and Iannotti (2011) were not able to demonstrate that cyber bully-victims were at greatest risk for depression. Rather, cyber victims were found to report the highest levels of depression compared to cyber bullies and cyber bully-victims. Thus, further research is needed to determine whether victims or bully-victims of cyber bullying are at greater risk for internalizing difficulties, which is one question addressed in the present study.

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Although the aforementioned studies demonstrate empirical links between cyber bullying/victimization and both depression and suicidal ideation, they are unable to demonstrate that these links are independent of traditional victimization/bullying. By not taking into consideration the statistical contribution of traditional forms of bullying to the prediction of internalizing difficulties, the above findings are open to criticism regarding an exaggeration of the seriousness of cyber bullying, as is so cogently argued by Olweus (2012). To our knowledge, only two studies have examined the associations between cyber victimization and depression while controlling for involvement in traditional forms of bullying. In a study of 1,665 middle school students, Dempsey et al. (2009) found that, after controlling for traditional (overt and relational) forms of victimization, cyber victimization no longer was significantly associated with depression and only weakly associated with anxiety. In contrast, in a cross national study of 374 Australian and 1,320 Swiss youth, Perren et al. (2010) found that, even after controlling for traditional forms of involvement, cyber victims in both countries reported more depressive symptomology than both non-involved students and those involved only as cyber bullies. Given the discrepant results reported across these two studies, discrepancies that could be attributable to a number of possible factors, including variations in sample characteristics or measures, it is clear that further research is needed to determine whether or not victimization through cyber bullying enhances one’s risk for internalizing difficulties after controlling for more traditional forms of victimization. The present study extends the above research by examining the unique contribution of both cyber victimization and cyber bullying to the prediction of depressive symptomatology, as well as suicidal ideation, while controlling for traditional forms of victimization and bullying.


present study has three specific goals. The first goal is to determine the relative contributions of both traditional and cyber forms of victimization and bullying to the prediction of depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. The second goal is to determine whether cyber bullying and cyber victimization uniquely contribute to the prediction of depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation after controlling for traditional forms of victimization and bullying. The third goal is to determine whether cyber bullyvictims are at greater risk for depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation than are cyber victims or cyber bullies.

Method Participants The present sample included 399 secondary students in grades 8 through 10 (228 females, 171 males; M age = 14.2 years, SD = .91 years) enrolled in a single urban high school in southern British Columbia. All participants received parental consent for participation in the study and themselves agreed to participate, with an overall participation rate of 76 % of all eligible students in grades 8–10. Participants were predominantly Asian Canadian (62 %), with 22 % identifying themselves as Caucasian and 6 % identifying themselves as mixed descent. Most students came from intact families (70 %), with 15 % living in single parent households. Based on information provided by school administrators, participating students represented a range of socio-economic backgrounds, with approximately half reporting annual family incomes of less than $50, 000 and one quarter reporting an annual family income of less than $25,000. Procedures

The Current Study Research has demonstrated significant associations between involvement in either traditional or cyber forms of bullying and various internalizing difficulties. However, these links vary in terms of which forms of victimization and aggression are most detrimental (traditional vs. cyber) and which group is impacted most negatively (i.e., bullies, victims, or bully-victims). Comparisons are further complicated by the fact that not all studies assess all of the various forms of bullying and victimization and also vary in terms of the instruments used. The current study systematically investigates the association between involvement in cyber bullying as well as other, more traditional forms of bullying, as either a victim or a bully, and both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. The

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Following approval from both the institutional review board and the school board research committee, students were recruited to participate in a single group testing session (50–60 min) conducted by the first author and trained research assistants during which they completed a series of self-report surveys. All participants were assured of the confidentiality of their individual responses, but were also forewarned that the researchers were ethically responsible for informing their parent/s if their responses indicated elevated risk for depression or suicidal ideation. Parents of 48 students whose responses indicated severe depressive symptomatology or suicidal ideation were contacted by phone by one of the authors and offered the opportunity to have their child/children speak with a counsellor at the school. All participating students also were given the


opportunity to receive additional support from their school counsellor by completing the last page of their surveys. Students were informed that completion of the last page was optional and that they could fill it out if ‘‘you are being bullied, feeling depressed, or if you are thinking of hurting yourself, and you would like some help, please let us know below. If you tell us that you would like help and you write your name below, then we will pass your name and request for help on to your counsellor.’’ Following each testing session, each survey was checked carefully and all student requests for support were given to the appropriate counsellor for immediate follow-up. Participants also were given a handout that provided contact information for youth crisis lines and other local mental health resources that were available to them. School counsellors worked directly with the researchers to provide support for students who indicated elevated levels of suicidal ideation and/or depressive symptomatology, or who asked for such support. An information package containing information about adolescent bullying, depression and suicidal ideation as well as available community resources also was provided to counsellors by the researchers.

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of bullying also were provided (e.g., examples of physical bullying included ‘‘when someone hits, shoves, kicks, spits or beats up others; when someone damages or steals another student’s property’’; examples of electronic bullying included ‘‘using computer or email or cell phone messages or pictures to threaten or hurt someone’s feelings; single out, embarrass or make someone look bad; spread rumors or reveal secrets about someone’’). Following the provision of a definition and examples, students were asked to indicate, on a 5-point scale, ranging from ‘‘not at all’’ to ‘‘many times a week’’ how often they had taken part in bullying others over the past school year, both overall and with respect to four different forms of bullying—physical, verbal, social and cyber. Similarly, students were asked to report how often they had been bullied over the past school year on the same 5-point scales, both overall and with respect to physical, verbal, social and cyber victimization. For each item, higher scores indicated more frequent involvement in bullying as either a perpetrator or victim. For the present study, students’ reports of overall bullying and victimization were not used, only reports of bullying and victimization for each of the four specific types of bullying and victimization were considered.

Measures Depressive Symptomatology Three self-report, paper-and-pencil measures were completed by participants, all of which had been developed for use with youth of this age range. The three measures, tapping involvement in bullying, depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation are described in greater detail below. Completion rates of all measures were found to be excellent, with less than .25 % of the data in total missing and no more than 3 % of any one variable having missing data. Given the low occurrence of missing data, the variable mean was used for imputation purposes (Tabachnick and Fidell 2001). Bullying Student experiences with bullying, as either a perpetrator or victim, were assessed using a 10-item self-report measure adapted (in consultation with local school staff) from selfreport measures originally developed by Olweus (1993). Specifically, following recommendations by Vaillancourt et al. (2008), students were first provided with a definition of bullying, specifying that such behavior is intentional, repeated and based on a power differential. Although there has been some debate regarding inclusion of all three definitional criteria (see Smith et al. 2013) and whether or not students acknowledge all three criteria (Vaillancourt et al. 2008), all three were included in order to make requested reports of traditional bullying and cyber bullying as comparable as possible. Examples of each different form

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff 1977) was used to assess symptoms of depression. This 20-item scale was developed to assess levels of depressive symptomatology and has been used extensively in previous research with both normative and clinical adolescent samples (Prinstein et al. 2001; Roberts et al. 1990), with good internal consistency (a range = .87–.92 across studies). Respondents were asked to respond to a list of statements indicating some of the ways they may have felt or behaved during the last week (e.g., ‘‘I felt depressed.’’, ‘‘I felt that everything I did was an effort.’’). Responses were made on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (‘‘rarely or none of the time’’) to 3 (‘‘all of the time’’). A total score was computed for each student, based on the sum of the 20 items, with scores ranging from 0 to 60. Higher scores on the CES-D reflect greater depressive symptomatology. In the present sample, the CES-D demonstrated good internal consistency, a = .87. Suicidal ideation Although suicidal ideation is a complex construct encompassing ‘‘the domain of thoughts and ideas about: death, suicide, and serious self-injurious behaviors, including thoughts related to the planning, conduct, and outcome of suicidal behavior’’ (Reynolds 1988, p. 4), previous studies exploring the links between bullying and suicidality have

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often utilized single-item measures to assess suicidal ideation (e.g., Kaltiala-Heino et al. 1999; Roland 2002). In order to capture variations in the complexity and severity of suicidal thoughts among victimized youth, the present study used the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire—JR (Reynolds 1987) to assess student’s thoughts about suicide over the past month. The SIQ-JR is a 15-item measure developed for use with adolescents in grades 7–9, although it may be used with older adolescents (Reynolds and Mazza 1994). Accordingly, all participants in grades 8 through 10 completed the same survey in order to maintain consistency across grade levels. The SIQ-JR assesses thoughts and ideas about death, suicide and serious self-injurious behaviors. Specifically, participants were asked to rate how often over the preceding month they have had particular suicidal thoughts (e.g., ‘‘I thought about how I would kill myself.’’, ‘‘I thought that killing myself would solve my problems.’’). Response options for each item ranged from 0 (never) to 6 (almost every day). Responses to all 15 items were summed to compute a total score (range 0–90), with higher scores reflecting greater suicidal ideation. Previous research by Reynolds and Mazza (1999) has documented the psychometric quality of the scale, with demonstrated high internal consistency (a = .91) and test–retest reliability (r = .89), and significant associations with suicidal ideation as measured in a semi-structured clinical interview. In the present sample, the SIQ-JR also demonstrated high internal consistency, a = .94.

Results Descriptive findings are presented first, followed by correlational analyses examining the associations between different forms of victimization/bullying and the outcome variables of depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. Next, preliminary analyses of variance were conducted to evaluate gender and grade differences across measures used in the present study. Finally, regression analyses were conducted to determine the relative and unique effects that different forms of victimization and bullying have on depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. Overall, 34 % of students reported that they had been victimized by their peers during the current school year, and 38 % reported that they had bullied others. The proportion of students reporting involvement in the various forms of bullying are presented in Fig. 1. The most frequently reported forms of victimization and bullying were verbal and social followed by physical and cyber forms. Although the reported frequency of cyber bullying and cyber victimization was lower than that reported for traditional forms of bullying and victimization, 16.8 %

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J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:685–697 48

50 40

44

42

45

38 34

33

35

Overall

30

Verbal

25

Social Cyber

20 15

11

11

10 5 0

Victimized

Bullied

Fig. 1 Percentage of students involved in various forms of bullying as either a victim or bully ‘‘at least a few times this year’’

(n = 67) of all students reported being involved ‘‘a few times’’ or more this year in cyber bullying, with 5.8 % (n = 23) being involved only as a victim, 6.0 % (n = 24) being involved only as a bully, and another 5.0 % (n = 20) being involved as both a victim and a bully. Zero-order correlations, as presented in Table 1, were conducted to assess the interrelations among specific types of victimization and bullying (physical, verbal, social and cyber), and the two outcome variables. With the exception of physical bullying, all forms of victimization and bullying were related significantly to both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation, although the magnitude of these correlations was low. Of particular relevance to the present study was that significant but small associations were found between cyber and traditional forms of victimization (r = .18–.21) and bullying (r = .16–.21). Finally, student reports of depressive symptomatology were related significantly to their reports of suicidal ideation (r = .61) A series of ten preliminary analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to examine grade and sex differences in the various forms of reported victimization, bullying and in the two outcome measures examined in the present study. Given the number of analyses conducted, alpha levels were set at p \ .01. Results indicated no significant grade main effects and no significant grade by gender interactions for any of the variables. As well, no significant gender differences were observed in reported social victimization, social bullying, cyber victimization, cyber bullying or suicidal ideation. However, significant gender main effects were found for depression, F(1, 392) = 12.19, p = .001, partial g2 = .03; physical victimization, F(1, 392) = 16.93, p \ .001, partial g2 = .04; verbal victimization, F(1, 392) = 14.60, p \ .001, partial g2 = .04; physical bullying, F(1, 392) = 15.08, p \ .001, partial g2 = .04; and verbal bullying, F(1, 392) = 13.12, p \ .001, partial g2 = .03. Reported depressive symptomatology was significantly higher in females (M = 17.3, SD = 9.9) than males


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Table 1 Zero-order correlations and descriptive statistics for specific forms of victimization, bullying and outcome variables (N = 399) Variable

1.

1. Physical victim

–

2. Verbal victim

.34**

3. Social victim

.27**

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

.47**

.18**

.19**

.21**

.23**

.24**

.09

.22**

6. Verbal bully

.25**

.44**

.23**

.13**

.40**

7. Social bully

.02

.14**

.31**

.12*

.20**

.31**

8. Cyber bully

.12*

.15**

.14**

.39**

.26**

.22**

.16**

9. Depression CES-D

.10*

.28**

.35**

.19**

.04

.22**

.19**

.13** 1.1 .45

10.

–

5. Physical bully

Mean Standard deviation

9.

–

4. Cyber victim

10. Suicidal ideation

8.

.40** 1.6 .88

.23** 1.5 .76

–

.24** 1.1 .39

–

.09 1.1 .37

–

.18** 1.5 .71

–

.14** 1.4 .60

– .19** .21** 1.1 .42

– .61** 15.9 9.47

– 10 12.42

* p \ .05, ** p \ .01

(M = 14.2, SD = 8.6); whereas males reported significantly more physical victimization (M = 1.2, SD = .61) than females (M = 1.0, SD = .24), more verbal victimization (M = 1.8, SD = 1.0) than females (M = 1.5, SD = .72), more physical bullying (M = 1.2, SD = .48) than females (M = 1.0, SD = .25) and more verbal bullying (M = 1.7, SD = .88) than did female students (M = 1.4, SD = .52). Given no evidence of grade differences nor grade by sex interactions, student grade level was not considered as an independent variable in subsequent analyses. However, given the sex differences observed across several variables, sex of subject was included as a variable in all subsequent analyses. Cyber Victimization’s Independent Contribution to the Prediction of Depressive Symptomatology and Suicidal Ideation In order to evaluate the independent contribution of cyber victimization, as well as other forms of victimization, to both depression and suicidality (considered separately), two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted, first controlling for sex (Step 1), and then examining the contribution of both traditional forms of victimization (physical, verbal, social) and cyber victimization (Step 2). Beta weights from these analyses were examined to determine the relative contribution of the various forms of victimization to depressive symptomatology after controlling for sex. When depressive symptomatology was regressed on sex and the various forms of victimization, the overall regression was found to be statistically significant, F(4, 390) = 20.0, p \ .001, with the various forms of victimization predicting an additional 16.5 % of the variance in depressive symptomatology above the 2.8 % accounted for by sex. Results showed that social victimization (b = 2.58, b = .22, p \ .001),

followed by verbal victimization (b = 2.26, b = .22, p \ .001), and cyber victimization (b = 2.44, b = .11, p = .03) contributed the most to depressive symptomatology, whereas physical victimization (b = -.46, b = -.02, p = .66) did not have a statistically significant effect on depressive symptomatology. The overall regression conducted for suicidal ideation was also statistically significant, F(4, 384) = 46.42, p \ .001, with the various forms of victimization predicting an additional 32 % of the variance in suicidal ideation, above the 1.5 % accounted for by sex. However, only verbal victimization (b = 5.55, b = .50, p \ .001) and cyber victimization (b = 6.32, b = .25, p \ .001) had a statistically significant effect on suicidal ideation; physical (b = -.39, b = -.02, p = .71) and social victimization (b = -.68, b = -.05, p = .29) did not. Cyber Bullying’s Independent Contribution to the Prediction of Depressive Symptomatology and Suicidal Ideation A similar series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to assess the relative contribution of cyber and traditional forms of bullying to reported depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. Results indicated that both of the overall regression analyses were statistically significant, with sex accounting for 3.0 % of the variance in depressive symptomatology and 1.8 % of the variance in suicidal ideation, and the different forms of self-reported bullying predicting an additional 10.6 % of the variance in depressive symptomatology (F[4, 391] = 11.99, p \ .001) and an additional 12.3 % of the variance in suicidal ideation (F[4, 385] = 13.74, p \ .001). Verbal bullying (b = 2.93, b = .23, p \ .001) and cyber bullying (b = 3.46, b = .16, p = .002) each had a statistically

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significant impact on depressive symptomatology, whereas physical (b = -1.85, b = -.08, p = .18) and social bullying (b = 1.55, b = .10, p = .05) did not. Verbal bullying (b = 2.74, b = .21, p \ .001) and cyber bullying (b = 5.08, b = .22, p \ .001) also significantly predicted suicidal ideation, whereas physical (b = .43, b = .02, p = .76) and social bullying (b = .24, b = .02, p = .77) did not.

The Unique Contribution of Involvement in Cyber Bullying to the Prediction of Depressive Symptomatology and Suicidal Ideation While the standardized beta weights from the above regression analyses provide the relative contribution/s of involvement in cyber bullying to the prediction of the dependent variable/s (while holding all other variables constant), a final series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to determine whether cyber victimization and cyber bullying contributed to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation over and above the explained variance accounted for by sex and more traditional forms of involvement in bullying. By entering involvement in cyber bullying as the last step (Step 3) in a hierarchical regression we were able to ascertain the unique variance in the dependent variable/s accounted for by involvement in cyber bullying and cyber victimization. As seen in the top half of Table 2, cyber victimization explained a small but significant portion of the explained variance in depressive symptomatology [DR2 = .010, F(1,390) = 4.88, p \ .05] and a much larger portion of the variance in suicidal ideation [DR2 = .058, F(1,384) = 33.28, p \ .001], even after controlling for sex, and physical, verbal and social victimization. As shown in the bottom half of Table 2, cyber bullying also accounted for unique variance in the prediction of both depressive symptomatology [DR2 = .020, F(1,391) = 9.27, p \ .05] and suicidal ideation [DR2 = .040, F(1,385) = 18.03, p \ .001], with cyber bullying explaining an additional 2 % and 4 % of variance, above and beyond the variance in depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation (respectively) that is already accounted for by sex, and involvement in physical, verbal and social bullying. The relationship between involvement in cyber bullying and internalizing difficulties was further probed to determine whether these associations differed by type of involvement as either a cyber bully, cyber victim or cyber bully-victim. To this end, separate 3 9 2 ANOVAs were conducted to examine the effects of type of involvement in cyber bullying (as a cyber victim, cyber bully, or cyber bully-victim) and sex on depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. Relevant means and standard deviations are presented in Table 3. Results of the analyses indicated no significant interactions between type of involvement in cyber bullying and sex for

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either depressive symptomatology or suicidal ideation [F(2, 61) = .62, p = .54, partial g2 = .02; F(2,61) = .04, p = .96, partial g2 = .001, respectively]. No main effects were found for the type of involvement in predicting depressive symptomatology [F(2,61) = .17, p = .84, partial g2 = .006] or for sex in predicting suicidal ideation [F(1, 61) = 3.58, p = .06, partial g2 = .055]. A significant main effect was found for sex in predicting depressive symptomatology [F(1, 61) = 5.42, p = .02, partial g2 = .082], with female students scoring higher on depressive symptomatology than male students. A significant main effect was also found in predicting suicidal ideation [F(2, 61) = 3.19, p = .048, partial g2 = .095] with cyber bully-victims reporting levels of suicidal ideation nearly twice as high as either cyber bullies or cyber victims.

Discussion To gain a clearer understanding of the association between involvement in cyber bullying and internalizing difficulties, the present study examined the relative and unique associations between involvement in cyber bullying and both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. Contrary to arguments put forward by Olweus (2012) suggesting that reported consequences associated with cyber victimization are actually the result of overlap in victimization, whereby cyber victims are also victims of traditional forms of bullying, results from the present study demonstrate that involvement in traditional or face-to-face forms of bullying do not account for the full scope of negative consequences associated with being either a victim or perpetrator of cyber bullying. Findings from the present study contribute to the literature by demonstrating that, although they are related, traditional and cyber bullying’s associations to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation are unique. Consistent with prior research (Klomek et al. 2008; Smith et al. 2008; Williams and Guerra 2007), involvement in cyber bullying was found to be less frequent than other forms of bullying. Nevertheless, significant links were observed between cyber bullying/victimization and both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. As expected, significant associations also were found between internalizing problems and involvement in traditional forms of bullying (the exception being involvement as a physical bully). Across both traditional and cyber forms of peer harassment, the magnitude of these relations were small to moderate, which suggests that involvement in bullying is only one of the factors contributing to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation among adolescents. Furthermore, although significant, relatively small associations were found between cyber and traditional forms of victimization and bullying, suggesting that only a minimal degree of overlap exits


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Table 2 Hierarchical regression assessing the unique contribution of cyber victimization and cyber bullying to the prediction of depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation Variable

Depressive symptoms b

Step 1 Gender Step 2 Physically victimized

.234**

Step 3

.028

.028

11.49*

1,394

R2

R2 change

.015

.015

5.79*

1,388

.278

.264

46.87**

3,385

.336

.058

33.28**

1,384

.018

.018

6.96*

1,389

.100

.082

11.79**

3,396

.140

.040

18.03**

1,385

F change

df

.155

24.8**

3,391 .013 .525** -.013

.194

.010

4.88*

1,390 .252**

.030

.030

12.24*

1,395

-.173*

Step 2

Suicidal ideation b

-.121*

.106*

Step 1

Verbal bully

df

-.009 .231**

Physical bully

F change

.184

Socially victimized

Gender

R2 change

-.168*

Verbally victimized

Cyber victimized

R2

-.133* .116

.086

12.64**

3,392

-.037

.070

.248**

.232**

Social bully Step 3

.124*

.049

Cyber bully

.157*

.136

.020

9.27*

1,391 .220**

Inspection of variance inflation factors revealed that multicollinearity was not a problem in any of the models tested * p \ .05, ** p \ .001 Table 3 Means and standard deviations for depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation by gender and type of involvement in cyber bullying Gender

Female (N = 33)

Male (N = 34)

Total (N = 67)

Type of involvement

Depressive symptoms

Suicidal ideation

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Cyber victim (n = 15)

23.06

10.12

17.69

14.70

Cyber bully (n = 10)

27.26

15.0

16.66

17.07

Cyber bully-victim (n = 8) Cyber victim (n = 8)

22.63 17.82

11.59 10.16

27.63 8.13

24.12 6.92


17.27

8.26

Cyber bully-victim (n = 12)

19.55

7.35

21.0

22.57

Cyber victim (n = 23)

21.24

10.22

14.36

13.21


21.43

12.32

12.36

12.91

Cyber bully-victim (n = 20)

20.78

9.12

23.65

22.81

between involvement in cyber and more traditional forms of victimization and bullying. These findings are consistent with research by Dempsey et al. (2009) that found cyber victimization to be a distinct latent construct separate from both relational and overt victimization. Cyber Victimization’s and Cyber Bullying’s Relative Contributions to the Prediction of Depressive Symptomatology and Suicidal Ideation Results of regression analyses showed that involvement in cyber bullying (as a victim or a bully) consistently

9.29

8.31

predicted both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. These findings are consistent with previous research linking cyber victimization with both depression (Dooley et al. 2012: Olenik-Shemesh et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2011), and suicidality (Klomek et al. 2008; Schneider et al. 2012) and linking cyber bullying and suicidality (Hinduja and Patchin 2012). Extending the literature, the present findings further demonstrate that the association between involvement in cyber bullying (as either a victim or bully) and internalizing difficulties are significant and independent of involvement in traditional forms of bullying. In determining the relative contribution of cyber

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bullying and victimization to the prediction of depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation, holding constant the effects of gender and involvement in traditional forms of victimization and bullying (i.e. physical, verbal, social), we found that cyber bullying and cyber victimization each consistently predicted internalizing difficulties. In fact, the only other type of bullying that emerged as a better predictor of depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation was verbal victimization and verbal bullying. Given that students in the present study reported about four times more involvement in verbal victimization (48 vs. 11 %) and verbal bullying (44 vs. 11 %) than in cyber victimization and bullying, results from the present study clearly indicate that intervention efforts cannot simply focus on the most prevalent forms of bullying (as suggested by Olweus 2012), but rather we also must pay close attention to students reporting involvement in cyber bullying. Cyber Victimization’s and Cyber Bullying’s Unique Contributions to the Prediction of Depressive Symptomatology and Suicidal Ideation A key goal of this study was to determine whether involvement in cyber bullying (as a victim or a bully) would contribute uniquely to student reports of depressive symptomology and suicidal ideation. While we found one study (Perren et al. 2010) that was able demonstrate significant associations between cyber victimization and depressive symptomology after controlling for traditional forms of victimization, to the best of our knowledge, none have done so using suicidal ideation as an outcome variable, nor have any been able to demonstrate unique links between cyber bullying and depressive symptomatology or suicidal ideation. Our findings demonstrate that both cyber victimization and cyber bullying uniquely contribute to the explained variance in depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation, above and beyond that accounted for by gender and traditional forms of victimization and bullying. However, involvement in cyber bullying (as a victim or a bully) only accounted for an additional 1 and 2 % (respectively) of the explained variance in depressive symptomatology, whereas it accounted for an additional 5.8 and 4 % (respectively) of the explained variance in suicidal ideation. Given the fact that so little research has been conducted examining the relationship between involvement in cyber bullying and suicidal ideation, it is difficult to ascertain why this relationship was more robust than that between involvement in cyber bullying and depressive symptomatology. The pervasive and persistent nature of cyber bullying along with the fact that victims may never know who their bullies are, could make victims feel like their plight is inescapable and hence lead to feelings of hopelessness. It is important to note that feelings of hopelessness are significantly related to

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suicidal ideation among adolescents (Terzi-Unsal and Kapci 2005), and are a better predictor of suicide or suicidal ideation in adolescents and adults than depression (Maris 1992). Furthermore, students who are victimized by cyber means are less likely to report and seek help than teens who were victimized by more traditional means (Agatston et al. 2007; Dooley et al. 2010), which may decrease students’ levels of perceived social support, placing victimized youth at greater risk for suicidal ideation (Bonanno and Hymel 2010). Lastly, given research that has shown that traditional bully-victims are at greater risk for internalizing difficulties than bullies or victims (Kim et al. 2005; Menesini et al. 2009), we wanted to determine if the same would hold true for cyber bully-victims. Contrary to results from both the literature on traditional bullying and those found by Ybarra and Mitchell (2004), the present study did not find that cyber bully-victims were at any greater risk for depression than were cyber victims or cyber bullies. Wang et al. (2011) also were unable to demonstrate that cyber bully-victims were at greater risk for depression, but they did find that cyber victims reported higher levels of depression compared to cyber bullies and cyber bully-victims. In contrast, we did find that cyber bully-victims reported significantly higher levels of suicidal ideation than did cyber victims and cyber bullies. Similarly, Kim et al. (2005) investigated the relationship between traditional bullying and suicidal risk among 1,718 Korean middle school students and found that, compared to students not involved in bullying, students who were victimperpetrators (bully-victims) were at greater risk for both selfinjurious behavior and suicidal ideation. Taken together, studies to date confirm that students who are involved as both bullies and victims do appear to be at greater risk than those involved as either bullies or victims, especially with regard to suicidal ideation and, in some cases, for depression. However, further research is needed to determine the factors that contribute to such increased vulnerability. In summary, results from the present study demonstrate significant associations between involvement in cyber bullying as a victim or bully and both depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, the associations between involvement in cyber bullying (as either a victim or bully) and internalizing difficulties are significant and independent of involvement in traditional forms of bullying. While the reported frequency of involvement in cyber bullying may be less than other, more traditional forms of bullying, findings from the present study suggest that low prevalence should not be equated with low risk for internalizing difficulties. Limitations and Strengths There are three main limitations in the current study that must be addressed. The first concerns the generalizability of findings


from the present study. Given the sensitive nature of the questions asked in this study and the necessity to establish (a priori) adequate support for students requesting or requiring help both in and out of school, a convenience, rather than a random sample, was utilized. Additionally, the ethnic composition (predominantly Asian) of this sample also may limit the generalizability of findings from the present study to students with similar ethnic backgrounds. However, given the fact that nearly 76 % of all eligible grade 8 through grade 10 students from this school participated in the present study, we feel confident that the present sample is a reasonable representation of the majority of students from this school and other schools in the neighboring area. Second, the present, single time point design prevents us from determining direction of causality. Hence, it remains unclear whether involvement in bullying, electronic or traditional, contributes to internalizing problems or whether having depressive symptomatology and/or suicidal thoughts contributes to children being involved in bullying. And, of course, a third unknown variable (e.g., mental health vulnerabilities) may contribute to both. Further research clearly is warranted in this regard. However, it is important to note that recent longitudinal research does suggest a causal relationship between both bullying and peer victimization and depression (Ttofi et al. 2011; Olweus 1993) and suicidality (see Klomek et al. 2010 for a review). Finally, although the items we used to assess involvement in traditional and cyber bullying are based on measures that have been used extensively, these single item measures did not allow us to explore fully the constructs of involvement in traditional and cyber bullying. Despite the above limitations, the present study has several methodological strengths and contributes to the field of bullying in important ways. First, as suggested by Olweus (2012), the present study investigated the relationship between involvement in cyber bullying and potential negative consequences within the context of traditional forms of victimization. By statistically controlling for the impact of traditional forms of bullying, the present study was able to demonstrate that, regardless of overlap with other traditional forms of bullying, unique associations exist between involvement in cyber bullying (as either a victim or a bully) and internalizing difficulties. Second, to our knowledge, the present study is the only study to use a well-established and psychometrically sound measure to assess suicidal intent in both cyber victims and cyber bullies. The SIQ-JR captures variations in severity that exists in the domain of suicidal intent, which reduces problems associated with measures that have a restricted range. Finally, we were able to circumvent some of the concerns raised by Menesini (2012) regarding potentially confounding differences in the evaluation of involvement in traditional and cyber bullying by using balanced measures, with respect to definition, level of specificity and number of items used to assess the frequency of each form of bullying and victimization.

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Conclusion Given the ever increasing accessibility to technology in both schools and homes, coupled with evidence that students who are cyber victimized are less likely to report or seek help than teens who were victimized by more traditional means (Agatston et al. 2007; Dooley et al. 2010), the problem of cyber bullying has the potential to escalate exponentially unless it is addressed, in both research and practice, with the same rigor that conventional forms of bullying are. Results of the present study clearly demonstrate that both cyber victimization and cyber bullying uniquely contribute to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation after controlling for gender and traditional forms of bullying and victimization (physical, verbal and social). If we are to have a more comprehensive understanding of factors that place youth involved in bullying at risk for internalizing difficulties, then we must recognize involvement in cyber bullying as a unique risk factor and not merely an extension of traditional bullying. Acknowledgments The authors are grateful for the support provided for this research from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Gender and Aggression Project and the SSHRC Prevention Science Cluster. We also wish to thank the students, administrators and schools who participated in this project. Although they wish to remain anonymous, we greatly appreciate their cooperation. Author Contributions RB and SH conceived of the study and participated in its design and coordination. RB performed the statistical analysis, interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. SH obtained funding and helped to draft the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Author Biographies Rina A. Bonanno is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Learning at Dowling College. Her research interests include the relationship between involvement in bullying and internalizing difficulties; bullying and school climate, and bullying and moral disengagement. Shelley Hymel is a professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education at the University of British Columbia and the Edith Lando Professor in Social and Emotional Learning. Her research interests include social and emotional development and learning, peer relations in children and youth, aggression and bullying in schools.

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