Psychological, physical, and academic correlates of cyberbullying and traditional bullying

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the relationship between children's and adolescents' experiences with cyberbullying and traditional bullying and psychological health, physical health, and academic performance.

Methods: Nine hundred thirty-one students in grades 6 through 12 completed an anonymous survey examining their experiences with cyberbullying and traditional bullying. Also included were measures of anxiety, depression, self-esteem, physical well-being, school attendance, and academic performance.

Results: Participants were categorized as belonging to one of four groups: cyber victims, cyberbullies, cyber bully/victims, and those not involved in cyberbullying. A similar categorization was done with traditional bullying. Those in the bully/victim groups (and particularly the cyber bully/victim group) had the most negative scores on most measures of psychological health, physical, health, and academic performance.

Conclusions: There appears to be a substantial, although not perfect, overlap between involvement in traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Additionally, the physical, psychological, and academic correlates of the two types of bullying resembled one another.