Information Technology Behavior Cyberbullying in Thailand: Incidence and Predictors of Victimization and Cyber-Victimization

Abstract

Cyberbullying is becoming an important issue internationally, including in Thailand. I report findings from a questionnaire survey of 1,183 students drawn from 12 schools in southern Thailand, aged 14 to 17 years. The questions asked included demographic information, use of ICT, as well as experiences of being a victim or perpetrator of traditional bullying (not cyber) and cyberbullying. Students were asked if they had been bullied (not cyber), or cyberbullied at school in the past couple of months. We used two criteria of involvement: lenient (it happened at least once or twice), and strict (it happened 2 or 3 times a month or more). With the lenient criterion, 16.0% were traditional victims and 14.9% cybervictims. With the strict criterion, 6.0% were traditional victims and 3.7% cybervictims. We carried out logistic regression analyses in order to see how victim status was predicted, on the basis of 5 variables: gender, grade, religion, province, and parent education. Separate analyses were carried out, for lenient and severe criteria, and for traditional and cyber victim. Three criteria were non-significant for all four of these analyses: grade, province, and religion. Gender was significant in all analyses: male students were more likely to be victims, especially cyber victims. Parent education was significant, but only for lenient cybervictims: here, higher parental education was associated with greater risk of being a victim. The findings are discussed in relation to research in other eastern and western cultures; and to the needs for further research and intervention in schools in Thailand.

Psychoactive Substance Use and Problematic Internet Use as Predictors of Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization

“…These results echo those studies using similar time periods and adolescent samples. For instance, Sittichai ( 2014 ) found that 6% of 14–17-year-old students were bullied frequently over the past couple of months. In another study, 7.1% of 10–13-year-old students were bullied online frequently in the last 3 months (Price et al 2013 ).…”

Bullying and Cyberbullying in Thailand: Coping Strategies and Relation to Age, Gender, Religion and Victim Status

“…This initial sample of 1,200 fell to 1,183 who responded; this was the sample used in Sittichai (2014), who reported on prevalence data, and risk factors for being a victim. However after excluding participants with missing data in coping strategies, this fell to a final total of 1,049 adolescents used in this analysis.…”

“…Two small-scale studies have been reported on coping with cyberbullying. Sittichai and Tudkea (2015) reported qualitative research on cyberbullying behaviors, using semi-structured interviews with twenty seven victims and perpetrators. For coping with cyberbullying, some kept quiet, deleted or blocked others, responded or cyberbullied back, compromised, or stopped or cancelled access to social networking.…”

Curbing Cyberbullying Among Students: A Comparative Analysis of Existing Laws Among Selected Asean Countries

“…Strategies depend on the age of the cybervictim. Moreover, school programs containing strategies in preventing cyberbullying situations such as: "whole-school" anti-bullying policy, awareness-raising program, and curriculumbased activities should be implemented (Sittichai, 2014).…”