Abstracts
Abstract
In this cross-sectional study, we investigated cyberbullying among 203 female college students in Saudi Arabia during January and February 2020. The participants were randomly selected from each of the 12 colleges in the female campus of King Saud University in Riyadh City. The participants completed self-administered surveys adapted from the Compendium of Assessment Tools for Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration, and Bystander Experiences, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings of this study revealed that 41.6% of the sample had encountered some form of cyberbullying at least once in their lifetime. On the other hand, 15.8% reported cyberbullying others. The primary motivations for cyberbullying others were fun and vengeance. The majority of victims (16.3%) did not tell anyone that they were being cyberbullied. Only 2.0% to 2.5% reported an overlap between offline and online bullying. The study’s findings indicate that female college students would benefit from comprehensive cyberbullying education and awareness campaigns. Additionally, interventions to combat cyberbullying within the population are needed.
Keywords:
- cyberbullying,
- online,
- public health,
- Saudi Arabia
Appendices
Bibliography
- Akbulut, Y., & Eristi, B. (2011). Cyberbullying and victimization among Turkish University students. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 27(7), 1155–1170. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.910
- Alavi, N., Reshetukha, T., Prost, E., Antoniak, K., Patel, C., Sajid, S., & Groll, D. (2017). Relationship between bullying and suicidal behaviour in youth presenting to the emergency department. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26(2), 70–77.
- Al-Zahrani, A. M. (2015). Cyberbullying among Saudi’s higher-education students: Implications for educators and policymakers. World Journal of Education, 5(3), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v5n3p15
- Anthony, B. J., Wessler, S. L., & Sebian, J. K. (2010). Commentary: Guiding a public health approach to bullying. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 35(10), 1113–1115. https://doi.org/10.1093/JPEPSY/JSQ083
- Arafa, A., & Senosy, S. (2017). Pattern and correlates of cyberbullying victimization among Egyptian university students in Beni-surf, Egypt. Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association, 92(2), 107–115. https://doi.org/10.21608/EPX.2018.8948
- Bannink, R., Broeren, S., van de Looij-Jansen, P. M., de Waart, F. G., & Raat, H. (2014). Cyber and traditional bullying victimization as a risk factor for mental health problems and suicidal ideation in adolescents. PLoS ONE, 9(4), 11–16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0094026
- Barlett, C., & Coyne, S. M. (2014). A meta‐analysis of sex differences in cyber‐bullying behavior: The moderating role of age. Aggressive Behavior, 40(5), 474–488. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21555
- Bauman, S., & Newman, M. L. (2013). Testing assumptions about cyberbullying: Perceived distress associated with acts of conventional and cyber bullying. Psychology of Violence, 3(1), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029867
- Betts, L. R., Spenser, K. A., & Gardner, S. E. (2017). Adolescents’ involvement in cyber bullying and perceptions of school: The importance of perceived peer acceptance for female adolescents. Sex Roles, 77(7–8), 471–481. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0742-2
- Caravaca Sánchez, F., Falcón Romero, M., Navarro-Zaragoza, J., Ruiz-Cabello, A. L., Frantzisko, O. R., & Maldonado, A. L. (2016). Prevalence and patterns of traditional bullying victimization and cyber-teasing among college population in Spain. BMC Public Health, 16(1), Article 176. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2857-8
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health 101 series: Introduction to public health. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2020 from https://www.cdc.gov/publichealth101/public-health.html
- Crosslin, K., & Golman, M. (2014). “Maybe you don’t want to face it”: College students’ perspectives on cyberbullying. Computers in Human Behavior, 41, 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.007
- Espelage, D. L., & Hong, J. S. (2017). Cyberbullying prevention and intervention efforts: Current knowledge and future directions. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(6), 374–380. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743716684793
- Fahy, A. E., Stansfeld, S. A., Smuk, M., Smith, N. R., Cummins, S., & Clark, C. (2016). Longitudinal associations between cyberbullying involvement and adolescent mental health. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(5), 502–509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.06.006
- Foody, M., Samara, M., El Asam, A., Morsi, H., & Khattab, A. (2017, January 1). A review of cyberbullying legislation in Qatar: Considerations for policymakers and educators. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 50, 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.10.013
- Gladden, R. M., Vivolo-Kantor, A. M., Hamburger, M. E., & Lumpkin C. D. (2014). Bullying surveillance among youths: Uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements, Version 1.0. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Department of Education. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/21596
- González-Cabrera J, León-Mejía, A., Beranuy, M., Gutiérrez-Ortega, M., Alvarez-Bardón, A., & Machimbarrena, J. M. (2018). Relationship between cyberbullying and health-related quality of life in a sample of children and adolescents. Quality of Life Research, 27(10), 2609–2618. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-018-1901-9
- Grinshteyn, E., & Yang, Y. T. (2017). The association between electronic bullying and school absenteeism among high school students in the United States. Journal of School Health, 87(2), 142–149. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12476
- Hamburger, M. E., Basile, K. C., & Vivolo, A. M. (Eds.). (2011). Measuring bullying victimization, perpetration, and bystander experiences: A compendium of assessment tools. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/5994
- Jadambaa, A., Thomas, H. J., Scott, J. G., Graves, N., Brain, D., & Pacella, R. (2019). Prevalence of traditional bullying and cyberbullying among children and adolescents in Australia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 53(9), 878–888. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867419846393
- Kim, S., Colwell, S. R., Kata, A., Boyle, M. H., & Georgiades, K. (2018). Cyberbullying victimization and adolescent mental health: Evidence of differential effects by sex and mental health problem type. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(3), 661–672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0678-4
- Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G. W., Schroeder, A. N., & Lattanner, M. R. (2014). Bullying in the digital age: A critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying research among youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 1073–1137. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035618
- Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. P. (2013). Psychological, physical, and academic correlates of cyberbullying and traditional bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53(1 suppl.), S13–S20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.09.018
- Lai, C. S., Mohamad, M. M., Lee, M. F., Salleh, K. M., Sulaiman, N. L., Rosli, D. I., & Chang, W. V. S. (2017). Prevalence of cyberbullying among students in Malaysian higher learning institutions. Advanced Science Letters, 23(2), 781–784. https://doi.org/10.1166/asl.2017.7492
- Langos, C. (2012). Cyberbullying: The challenge to define. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(6), 285–289. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0588
- Mishna, F., McInroy, L. B., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Bhole, P., Van Wert, M., Schwan, K., Birze, A., Daciuk, J., Beran, T., Craig, W., Pepler, D. J., Wiener, J., Khoury-Kassabri, M., & Johnston, D. (2016). Prevalence, motivations, and social, mental health and health consequences of cyberbullying among school-aged children and youth: Protocol of a longitudinal and multi-perspective mixed method study. JMIR Research Protocols, 5(2), Article e83. https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.5292
- Modecki, K. L., Minchin, J., Harbaugh, A. G., Guerra, N. G., & Runions, K. C. (2014). Bullying prevalence across contexts: A meta-analysis measuring cyber and traditional bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 55(5), 602–611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.06.007
- Ojanen, T. T., Boonmongkon, P., Samakkeekarom, R., Samoh, N., Cholratana, M., & Guadamuz, T. E. (2015). Connections between online harassment and offline violence among youth in Central Thailand. Child Abuse and Neglect, 44, 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.04.001
- Paullet, K., & Pinchot, J. (2014). Behind the screen where today’s bully plays: Perceptions of college students on cyberbullying. Journal of Information Systems Education, 25(1), 63–69.
- Peled, Y. (2019). Cyberbullying and its influence on the academic, social, and emotional development of undergraduate students. Heliyon, 5(3), Article e01393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01393
- Selkie, E. M., Fales, J. L., & Moreno, M. A. (2016). Cyberbullying prevalence among United States middle and high school aged adolescents: A systematic review and quality assessment. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(2), 125–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.09.026
- Selkie, E. M., Kota, R., Chan, Y.-F., & Moreno, M. (2015). Cyberbullying, depression, and problem alcohol use in female college students: A multisite study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(2), 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2014.0371
- Šléglová, V., & Cerna, A. (2011). Cyberbullying in adolescent victims: Perception and coping. Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 5(2), Article 3294. https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/4248/3294
- Watts, L. K., Wagner, J., Velasquezc, B., & Behrens, P. I. (2017). Cyberbullying in higher education: A literature review. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 268–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.038
- Ybarra, M. L., Diener-West, M., & Leaf, P. J. (2007). Examining the overlap in internet harassment and school bullying: Implications for school intervention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6 suppl.), 42–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.09.004