Cyberbullying Among Adolescents

Project Leader: Nikita Midamba, MSPrincipal investigator: Megan Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH

• Our vision is to provide education to adolescents and families towards safe internet use, to develop tools to assess internet use and define problematic internet use, and to both create and interpret messages within social media to promote healthy behaviors.

SMAHRT

• Why is this topic important?– Bullying is both a public health and criminal justice

problem – Bullying occurs across the world and at many

stages in the life course• Childhood “schoolyard” bullying• Adolescent bullying• Workplace bullies

Bullying

• Traditional bullying is still an issue– Defined by the CDC

• “Bullying is any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm.”

– Many of the prevention and intervention programs available target schools, kids and families

Bullying

• In recent years, technology has provided new platforms on which bullying can occur– Social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter,

YouTube, Instagram

– Text messaging and mobile phone pictures

– Online games

Cyberbullying

– Negative impact on emotional development• Higher rates of depression, emotional distress, anger,

sadness, detachment

• Lower self-esteem

– Negative impact on academic development• More missed school days, more delinquency

• Lower grades

– Media coverage of several suicides related to cyberbullying

Cyberbullying Negative Outcomes

• Negative consequences are not limited to the victim– Many victims become bullies themselves, called

‘bully/victims’– Bullies are more likely to • Be convicted of a crime in adulthood• Report difficulty making friends• Have poor performance in school• Be at risk for abusing drugs and alcohol

Cyberbullying Negative Outcomes

• It is challenging to know the prevalence of cyberbullying because of varied definitions

• Several definitions of cyberbullying exist, but there is little consensus on how to define it–Broad: “mean things online”–Narrow: “harassment using text messages

and chat rooms”

Cyberbullying Prevalence

Cyberbullying Research

Study Cyberbullying Definition Age Group

Prevalence Found

1“Harassing using technology such as email, computer, cell phone, video cameras, etc.”

12-15 yrs 25%

2“Mean things” or “Anything that someone does

that upsets or offends someone else” 12-17 yrs 72%

3 “Making rude or nasty comments to someone on the internet or using the internet to harass or

embarrass someone with whom [they were] mad”10-17 yrs 7%

• Prevalence rates range 7-72%

• The lack of a standardized definition of electronic harassment is undoubtedly the cause, making it difficult to determine the magnitude of this problem.

Cyberbullying Research

Overall Goal:

• To better understand this issue so that we may improve prevention and intervention efforts to reduce cyberbullying amongst our teens

Objective:

• Develop an evidence-based definition of electronic harassment and a related measurement tool

Purpose of our Study

• For this project we are using a Concept Mapping approach– A method in which a group of ideas are

represented as a picture or a map. This method is effective when a group of people want to develop a conceptual framework for evaluation or planning.

Methods

• This type of project has 5 stages:

1. Preparation: Determine desired outcome of study, identify relevant stakeholders, determine how stakeholders will be engaged throughout process

2. Brainstorming: gather knowledge and opinions from stakeholders3. Sort and Rank: Organize ideas into groups and assign values to ideas4. Representation: cluster map and pattern matching5. Interpretation: stakeholder-based interpretation

• We are at the Interpretation phase

Methods

Methods: Sort and Rank

Methods: Cluster Map

5

6 79

8

41

3

21. Characteristics of Bullies

2. Damaging Effects

3. Characteristics of Bullying

4. Bullying Techniques

5. Characteristics of Cyberbullying

6. Technological or Electronic Actions

7. Things Posted Online That Might Be Cyberbullying

8. Bullying Behaviors

9. Characteristics of the Victim to Attack

Methods: Cluster MapCluster number Proposed name Example items

1 Characteristics of Bullies “feel superior” “attention seeking”

2 Damaging Effects “fear” “low self-esteem”

3 Characteristics of Bullying “intent to harm” “demeaning”

4 Bullying Techniques “Humiliate” “ostracize”

5 Characteristics of Cyberbullying “a new concept” “difficult to control”

6 Technological or Electronic Actions

“Making unwanted posts go viral” “excessive messaging”

7 Things Posted Online That Might Be Cyberbullying

“fabricated sexual behaviors” “photo sharing without consent”

8 Bullying Behaviors “false information” “intimidation”

9 Characteristics of the Victim to Attack

“racial slurs/comments” “encouraging self harm”

Feedback

• What is your feedback on the number of clusters in the map? Was it more or less than you expected?

• Do the names of the constructs align with example items?

• Are there constructs in the map that surprise you?• Are there constructs in the map that are missing?• How can this map be used? By teachers?

Healthcare providers? Families?

CONTACT INFO:• Website: smahrtresearch.com• Email: smahrt@seattlechildrens.org• @SMAHRTeam• Facebook: Social Media and Adolescent Health

Research Team

UPCOMING EVENTS:• SMAHRT Youth Camp 2015

Questions?