Comparing short-term growth in traditional and cyber forms of bullying in early and mid-adolescent students

Abstract

The present study sought to investigate the short-term growth in the levels of traditional and cyber forms of bullying and victimization and examine how growth in one form of bullying relates to that of others’, for students in late elementary and early high school grades (ages 10 to 15) and to examine how the educational level of the students affects this growth. In total 868 students participated in the study during four measurement waves with an approximate five-week time-lag between each wave. The Latent Growth Modelling technique was implemented in data analysis and results indicated considerable differences between traditional and cyber forms of bullying. For example, a steeper fluctuation was indicated for cyber forms of bullying and victimization, which was more precipitous for students who were already reporting high levels of such behaviours, contrary to what was found for traditional forms of bullying. Nonetheless, similarities between the two forms were also present. Implications for research and practice are discussed.