Cyberbullying: differences based on sex and academic course

Abstract

Cyberbullying is a serious and transcultural problem. The studies regarding the difference in terms of gender and age of victims and aggressors are inconsistent. In this context, the aims of this study were to analyze if there are differences in cyber-victimization and cyber-aggression according to sex (boys and girls), and the academic year (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of ESO). The sample was composed by 660 adolescents aged International Journal between 12 and 18 from four high schools. The results show that there are no significant differences between boys and girls in cybervictimization and cyber-aggression. Regarding the academic year, there are no differences depending on the grade in cybervictimization. However, in cyber-aggression, students in 3rd and 4th grade have significantly higher scores compared to students in the 1st grade. These results demonstrate the importance of preventing cyberbullying behavior in adolescents. These results and their implications for future research are discussed.

Keywords

• adolescentes
• cyberbullying
• sexo
• curso académico