The role of family and school-level factors in bullying and cyberbullying: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundBullying and cyberbullying are common phenomena in schools. These negative behaviours can have a significant impact on the health and particularly mental health of those involved in such behaviours, both as victims and as bullies. This UK study aims to investigate student-level and school-level characteristics of those who become involved in bullying and cyberbullying behaviours as victims or perpetrators.MethodsWe used data from 6667 Year 7 students from the baseline survey of a cluster randomized trial in 40 English schools to investigate the associations between individual-level and school-level variables with bullying victimization, cyberbullying perpetration, and cyberbullying victimization. We ran multilevel models to examine associations of bullying outcomes with individual-level variables and school-level variables.ResultsIn multilevel models, at the school level, school type and school quality measures were associated with bullying risk: students in voluntary-aided schools were less likely to report bullying victimization (0.6 (0.4, 0.9) p = 0.008), and those in community (3.9 (1.5, 10.5) p = 0.007) and foundation (4.0 (1.6, 9.9) p = 0.003) schools were more likely to report being perpetrators of cyberbullying than students in mainstream academies. A school quality rating of “Good” was associated with greater reported bullying victimization (1.3 (1.02, 1.5) p = 0.03) compared to ratings of “Outstanding.”ConclusionsBullying victimization and cyberbullying prevalence vary across school type and school quality, supporting the hypothesis that organisational/management factors within the school may have an impact on students’ behaviour. These findings will inform future longitudinal research investigating which school factors and processes promote or prevent bullying and cyberbullying behaviours.Trial registrationTrial ID: ISRCTN10751359 Registered: 11/03/2014 (retrospectively registered).

Influence of Family Variables on Cyberbullying Perpetration and Victimization: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The only research that found a relationship between the household composition and cyberbullying perpetration (Le et al 2017) also employed an instrument less commonly used in research (Le et al 2016). On the contrary, studies did find a relationship between the composition of the household and cybervictimization (Abdulsalam et al 2017;Bevilacqua et al 2017;Chen et al 2018;Garmy et al 2018) with instruments that have been extensively used in our study field (e.g., Olweus 1996) or items coming from research studies of recognized importance (e.g., Currie et al 2014;Genta et al 2009). Definitively, it could be concluded that the most reliable results point to a relationship between the household composition and cybervictimization.…”

“…Regarding the socioeconomic status, the results are inconclusive. Bevilacqua et al (2017) found that a low socioeconomic status was associated with a greater risk of being a cyberbullying victim or a perpetrator. In addition, Shaheen et al (2018) found that children belonging to low-income families experienced bullying (cyber and traditional perpetration was included) more than those from moderate-income families.…”

“…The composition of the household turned out to be a prominent factor, with a certain degree of consensus. Bevilacqua et al (2017) found that students from single-parent households were more likely to be cyberbullied. Abdulsalam et al (2017) found that children of divorced/widowed parents were more likely to be a cybervictim.…”

“…There were 6 (18%) studies which focused only on contextual family variables (Abdulsalam et al 2017;Çakır et al 2016;Chen et al 2018;Garmy et al 2018;Marret and Choo 2017;Shaheen et al 2018). However, there were 9 more studies (26%) which took into account such variables (Bevilacqua et al 2017;Beyazit et al 2017;Buelga et al 2017;Doty et al 2017;Garaigordobil and Machimbarrena 2017;Gómez et al 2017;Le et al 2017;Shams et al 2017;Uludasdemir and Kucuk 2018). The following variables were included: Family composition, family conflict, family's socioeconomic status, parents' education level, parental employment situation, family's home degree of rurality, parents' age, technological competence, stress, and parents' city of residence.…”

Adolescentes Escolares: Associação Entre Vivência De Bullying E Consumo De Álcool/Drogas

“…A research with a similar public corroborates the association between low socioeconomic conditions and the experience of bullying. 23 Not living with both parents provides a greater chance of experiencing bullying. A similar study was carried out in São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil, which warns about the greater risk of aggression and victimization among adolescents with families in which the maternal or paternal figures are missing or absent.…”