Bullying and cyberbullying in adolescent environment: prevalence, methods of intimidation, role-player behavior

Relevance. Widespread among adolescents bullying usually shows as traditional bullying (TB) and cyberbullying (CB). The public health relevance of bullying is that it can lead to emotional distress, social maladjustment and suicidal behavior.

Aim. To analyze the prevalence of traditional bullying and cyberbullying among adolescents, to assess the social roles of participants and methods of intimidation with regard to gender differences.

Materials and methods. Data collection was carried out in 2015–2017 within EACMHS. With the continuous method there were examined six hundred ninety two students of secondary schools in Krasnoyarsk (364 girls) aged 11–17 years (average age is 14.6 ± 1.3). A questionnaire including two sets of questions related to bullying and cyberbullying developed by the EACMHS was used.

Results. The TB prevalence is 28.7% (26.5% — boys, 30.8% — girls), the СB prevalence is 25.7% (33.5% — boys, 18.9% — girls). TB and CB can occur both independently and in combination, increasing the prevalence of bullying as a whole up to 43.1% (where only TB — 17.2%, only CB — 14.3%, both types — 11.6 %). Boys are more likely to be the aggressors. The most common methods of bullying are name calling (17.5% for TB, 15.3% for CB). Girls are more often bullied because of their appearance (19.5%), boys are more often by dangers (14.3%) and threats (13.4%).

Limitations. Adolescents living in one city were examined. One source of information was used.

Conclusions. The high involvement of adolescents in bullying requires the development of preventive measures.

Compliance with ethical standards. Approval for the study was received from the Ethics Committee of the Research Institute of Physiology and Fundamental Medicine (Minutes of the meeting No. 3 of 03/25/2015). The study was conducted by the method of anonymous questioning. After answering the questions, each teenager independently sealed their questionnaire in their own envelope. Subsequently, the experimenter sealed all the envelopes received in each class in one common envelope.

Gratitude. The author thanks Professor Andre Sourander for kindly providing the questionnaire, as well as colleagues who took part in the collection of material and the formation of the statistical base — L.V. Lapteva, T.O. Rippinen, and T.V. Osipova.

Acknowledgment. The work was carried out within the framework of the State Budget Project “Somatic and psychological aspects of the adaptation of children and adolescents in Central Siberia in the context of the widespread use of new computer technologies, the intensification of the educational process and the socio-cultural transformation of indigenous ethnic groups” (No. EGISU 121022600087-7).

Conflict of interest. The author declares no conflict of interest.

Received: December 02, 2021
Accepted: January 20, 2022
Published: August 30, 2023