Frontiers in Public Health (May 2021)
Effects of Cybervictimization on the Mental Health of Primary School Students
Abstract
Although many studies have addressed the consequences of cyberbullying on mental health in secondary school, there is a lack of research in primary education. Moreover, most students who are cybervictims also suffer from traditional bullying, and studies on cyberbullying do not always control for the effects of the latter. The aim of our study is therefore to address the possible effects of cyberbullying on different aspects of the life and behavior of students in Years 3 to 6 of primary school. The sample consisted of 636 students attending 38 schools, as well as their parents. Children responded to a bullying and a cyberbullying questionnaire (the EBIPQ and ECIPQ, respectively), and their parents responded to three questionnaires: the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a sociodemographic questionnaire, and one on children's experiences related to bullying and cyberbullying. The results reveal that 14.4% of the children, mostly boys, had suffered at least one online aggression in the previous 2 months. Most of them were also victims of traditional bullying. In this latter group, no differences were found between the SDQ scores reported by cybervictims and those reported by non-cybervictims. In contrast, those cybervictims who were not victims of traditional bullying displayed more difficulties in relation to Conduct problems, Externalizing problems, Home-life impact, and Total difficulties on the SDQ scales. Our results show that cyberbullying affects children's lives as early as primary school, and especially boys, even in children who do not suffer from traditional bullying.
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