Correlates of traditional bullying and cyberbullying perpetration among Australian students

a r t i c l e i n f o This study investigated the associations of gender, age, trait anger, moral disengagement, witnessing of interparental conflict, school connectedness and the religious makeup of the school setting in the involvement in traditional bullying and cyberbullying perpetration. Five hundred Australian students completed an anonymous self-report, paper-based questionnaire. According to the results, 25.2% of the participants reported having engaged in traditional or cyberbullying perpetration. While trait anger and moral disengagement were associated with being a traditional bully, trait anger, interparental conflicts, moral disengagement and school connectedness were associated with being a traditional bully-victim. Additionally, trait anger and moral disengagement were associated with being a traditional-and-cyberbully. Our findings indicated that besides individual variables, the family and school environment have an impact on traditional and cyberbullying perpetration behavior. Results imply that any prevention attempts to reduce traditional and cyberbullying should consider students' experiences both at home and at school. Bullying is a social relationship problem which can be defined as an imbalance of power characterized by an intention to hurt others which is repeated (Olweus, 1993). With the advent of technology such as the Internet and mobile phones widely available to young people, cyberbullying, or bullying using technology has emerged (Campbell, 2005). Although there has been some controversy over whether the three criteria of an imbalance of power, intentionality and repetition of traditional bullying apply, many researchers are in agreement that they are applicable, although with some differences in appearance depending on the different mediums (Menesini et al. can be defined as aggressive, deliberate and repeated behaviors of an individual or group of individuals by using information and communication technologies to inflict harm on others (Smith et al., 2008). The prevalence rates for traditional and cyberbullying in Australia seem to be similar to other developed countries with about 20–30% of students being traditionally victimized, 15% being cyberbullied and where every school is required to develop an anti-bullying policy and evidenced-based programs to reduce bullying are available (Cross et al., 2012). Victims of both traditional bullying and cyberbullying suffer many negative consequences according to the existing research evidence. Students who bully others in physical or cyber space appear to be at risk as well. Compared to the victims, traditional bullies were reported having low levels of school attendance, school satisfaction and higher levels of irritability (Arslan, Hallett, Akkas, & Akkas, 2012); and in comparison with …