摘要：Objectives. We examined correlations between gender, race, sexual identity, and technology use, and patterns of cyberbullying experiences and behaviors among middle-school students. Methods. We collected a probability sample of 1285 students alongside the 2012 Youth Risk Behavior Survey in Los Angeles Unified School District middle schools. We used logistic regressions to assess the correlates of being a cyberbully perpetrator, victim, and perpetrator–victim (i.e., bidirectional cyberbullying behavior). Results. In this sample, 6.6% reported being a cyberbully victim, 5.0% reported being a perpetrator, and 4.3% reported being a perpetrator–victim. Cyberbullying behavior frequently occurred on Facebook or via text messaging. Cyberbully perpetrators, victims, and perpetrators–victims all were more likely to report using the Internet for at least 3 hours per day. Sexual-minority students and students who texted at least 50 times per day were more likely to report cyberbullying victimization. Girls were more likely to report being perpetrators–victims. Conclusions. Cyberbullying interventions should account for gender and sexual identity, as well as the possible benefits of educational interventions for intensive Internet users and frequent texters. Cyberbullying is the “willful and repeated harm inflicted [on another] through the use of computers, cell phones, or other electronic devices.” 1 (p5) Among 6th- through 10th-grade students nationally, 4% reported being cyberbullying perpetrators, 5% reported being a victim of cyberbullying, and 5% reported being perpetrators–victims (meaning that they have both perpetrated and been victimized by cyberbullying) during the previous 2 months. 2 Among middle-school students in the southeastern and northwestern United States, a nonprobability sample of 3767 students by Kowalski and Limber 3 found that 11% reported being a victim of cyberbullying, 4% were cyberbullying perpetrators, and 7% were perpetrators–victims during the previous 2 months. Cyberbullying may be more insidious than traditional bullying, because cyberbullying can quickly reach wide audiences (e.g., e-mails sent to an entire school), can be perpetrated anonymously, and is not bound to in-person interactions. 4,5 Although cyberbullying has garnered widespread media attention, to our knowledge, no previous study has explored correlates of cyberbullying with a representative probability sample in an urban middle-school sample. Cyberbullying is associated with a host of health and behavioral health consequences. Research has suggested that cyberbullying may have a greater effect on depression and suicidal ideation than traditional offline bullying. 6 Both perpetration and victimization are associated with mental health consequences, including lower self-esteem, 7 recent depressive symptoms, 5,8,9 and suicidal ideation. 5,8,10 Cyberbullying perpetrators are more likely to have problems with their behavior, peer relationships, and emotions, and are less likely to be prosocial than their peers who are neither cyberbullying perpetrators nor victims of cyberbullying. 11 Specifically, female cyberbullying perpetrators express greater anxiety and depression than their female peers who are not cyberbullying perpetrators. 12 Cyberbullying victimization is also strongly associated with substance use, violent behavior, and risky sexual behavior among high-school students. 10 Cyberbullying disproportionately affects youths who are already vulnerable to mental health and behavioral health disparities, including members of sexual minorities (i.e., gay, lesbian, bisexual), girls, and racial and ethnic minorities. More than half of sexual-minority middle- and high-school students nationally report being a cyberbully victim during the previous year, with almost one fifth reporting often or frequent victimization. 13 Female students are significantly more likely to be cyberbully perpetrators–victims than their male peers. 9,14 Studies have reported that male students are significantly more likely to be cyberbullying perpetrators 2,15 and significantly less likely to be cyberbully victims. 2,6,9 Middle-school boys are more likely to cyberbully others because of their race, sexual identity, or both. 16 African American students are more likely to be cyberbully perpetrators and Hispanic students are more likely to be cyberbully perpetrators–victims than their White peers. 2 Cyberbullying may occur across a variety of technology platforms, and the specific qualities of each platform may affect how cyberbullying is perpetrated and experienced. Earlier studies suggested that instant messaging, chat rooms, and message boards were the most common mediums for middle-school students who experienced cyberbullying. 3,17 More recently, youths have migrated to social media platforms such as Facebook, 18–20 necessitating an examination of cyberbullying across more contemporary and emerging platforms for youth interaction. More frequent use of technology has also been associated with cyberbullying. Students who use the Internet for at least 3 hours per day and those who use instant messaging and Web cams are significantly more likely to have been cyberbully victims at least 7 times during the previous year. 17 Frequent Internet users are significantly more likely to be cyberbully perpetrators, victims, and perpetrators–victims. 14 Research has shown that even though cyberbullying takes place in a virtual space, most cyberbullying perpetrators know their victims and vice versa. Moreover, 73% of victims reported being “pretty sure” or “totally sure” about the identity of their cyberbully, with 51% of cyberbullying perpetrators identified as a classmate, 43% as someone who they only knew online, and 20% as an in-person, nonclassmate relation. 17 Cyberbullying perpetrators of middle-school victims were most often a classmate or a stranger; cyberbullying perpetrators most often reported that they cyberbullied classmates, friends, and strangers. 3 This study expanded previous work with high-school samples 2 and nonprobability samples of middle-school students 3,17 to explore the role of sexual identity, gender, race, and technology use patterns in a random sample of urban middle-school students in Los Angeles County, California. The study focused on demographic characteristics including sexual identity, patterns of technology use (i.e., frequency of Internet use, texting, parental rules regarding Internet use), and platforms on which middle-school students experience cyberbullying (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, text messaging) to inform interventions to disrupt this maladaptive behavior and help protect early adolescents from the consequences of cyberbullying.
