Cyber victimization in middle school and relations to social emotional outcomes

Cyber or electronic bullying is a growing problem among school-aged children and research on cyberbul-lying is still relatively young. The primary purposes of the current study were: (a) to investigate gender and grade level differences among cyber victims (b) to investigate the overlap between traditional victimization and cyber victimization and (c) to investigate the associations among cyber victimization and social emotional outcomes. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires on cyber victimization , traditional victimization, and social-emotional outcomes in a school-based sample of 106 middle school students. Results demonstrated that levels of cyber victimization did not differ by grade or by gender , cyber victimization and traditional victimization are distinct but related constructs, and relations between cyber victimization and social emotional outcomes varied by gender, with girls suffering more than boys. This study also confirmed that traditional bullying continues to be significantly related to a number of negative outcomes for all students. These findings, as well as implications and direction of future research, are discussed. Cyber or electronic bullying is a growing problem among school-aged children. As technology becomes even more accessible and relied upon, victims of cyberbullying will likely become even more common. Current estimates are that as many as 20–35% of children and adolescents report experiencing cyberbullying (Diamanduros, Downs, & Jenkins, 2008; Kowalski & Limber, 2007). Because research on cyber victimization is still relatively young, there is not a clear understanding of basic information such as gender and developmental differences in experiences of cyber victimization. From a socio-ecological framework, it is important to consider the role of both traditional (face-to-face) victimization and cyber victimization in understanding the relation to negative outcomes. The primary purposes of the current study were: (a) to investigate gender and grade level differences among cyber victims (b) to investigate the overlap between traditional victimization and cyber victimization and (c) to investigate the associations among cyber victimization and social emotional outcomes. To date, studies investigating cyber victimization have had significant methodological limitations including how participants are recruited, how or if cyber victimization is defined, and how these behaviors are assessed. The development of psychometrically sound measures of cyber victimization has been limited. Many researchers have developed their own measure or questionnaire, but provide limited information on the reliability and validity of early studies have relied on outdated national surveys; therefore, it is difficult to generalize findings from studies. Samples also vary across studies, as some have …