Anna Ševčíková

Cyberbullying in context: Direct and indirect effects by low self-control across 25 European countries

Random samples of at least 1,000 youth, ages 9 to 16 years, from 25 European countries (N = 25,142) were used to test the salience of low self-control on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization (direct and indirect effects), framed by a cross-cultural developmental approach. Path models, which provided evidence of invariance by sex, tested the hypothesized links among low self-control as well as known correlates, including offline perpetration and victimization, and externalizing behaviours. Results showed positive associations between online and offline bullying behaviours (perpetration and victimization), and, more interestingly, both direct but mostly indirect effects by low self-control on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization; externalizing behaviours had little additional explanatory power. Importantly, multi-group tests by country samples provided evidence of quite modest differences in the tested links across the 25 developmental contexts, despite some observed differences in the amount of variance explained in the dependent measures.

Online Harassment and Cyberbullying in the Czech Republic:Comparison Across Age Groups

The presented study is the first report on harassment and cyberbullying in the Czech Republic. The representative research was realized on the Czech population (N = 2215, of which 1470 were internet users) across all age groups (12 and above). In the sample, 10,1% of internet users claimed they were victims of online offending behavior and 4.8% of internet users said they were both victims and aggressors. Only 0.9% identified themselves as pure online aggressors. Ratios in the roles of victim and victim/bully varied across age groups.

Cyberbullying The Discriminant Factors Among Cyberbullies, Cybervictims, and Cyberbully-Victims in a Czech Adolescent Sample

Although the research on cyberbullying has increased dramatically in recent years, still little is known about how cyberbullying participant groups (i.e., cyberbullies, cybervictims, and cyberbully-victims) differ from one another. This study aims to discriminate between these groups at an individual and relational level by controlling for age and gender. Self-control, offline aggression, and self-esteem are analyzed as individual-level variables. Parental attachment and peer rejection are involved as relational-level variables. A total of 2,092 Czech adolescents aged 12 to 18 were enrolled from a random sample of 34 primary and secondary schools located in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. Discriminant function analyses indicated that the participant groups are discriminated by two functions. The first function increases the separation between cyberbullies and cyberbully-victims from cybervictims, indicating that cyberbullies and cyberbully-victims are similar to each other in terms of low self-control, offline aggression, and gender, and have higher scores on measures of low self-esteem and offline aggression. However, cyberbully-victims had the highest scores on these measures. The second function discriminates between all three groups, which indicates that those variables included in the second function (i.e., parental attachment, peer rejection, self-esteem, and age) distinguish all three involved groups.Although the research on cyberbullying has increased dramatically in recent years, still little is known about how cyberbullying participant groups (i.e., cyberbullies, cybervictims, and cyberbully-victims) differ from one another. This study aims to discriminate between these groups at an individual and relational level by controlling for age and gender. Self-control, offline aggression, and self-esteem are analyzed as individual-level variables. Parental attachment and peer rejection are involved as relational-level variables. A total of 2,092 Czech adolescents aged 12 to 18 were enrolled from a random sample of 34 primary and secondary schools located in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. Discriminant function analyses indicated that the participant groups are discriminated by two functions. The first function increases the separation between cyberbullies and cyberbully-victims from cybervictims, indicating that cyberbullies and cyberbully-victims are similar to each other in terms of low self-control, offline aggression, and gender, and have higher scores on measures of low self-esteem and offline aggression. However, cyberbully-victims had the highest scores on these measures. The second function discriminates between all three groups, which indicates that those variables included in the second function (i.e., parental attachment, peer rejection, self-esteem, and age) distinguish all three involved groups.

Online pornography use in adolescence: Age and gender differences

The aim of this study was to investigate age and gender patterns in how adolescents use online pornography and with whom, their reason for using online pornography and how and to whom they communicate their experiences. The sample comprised 2950 adolescents aged 11–17 (Mage = 14.08, 53.3% girls). Data were collected in primary and secondary schools in the Czech Republic. For girls, the results showed that the likelihood of using and discussing online pornography in mixed-gender peer settings increased with age. Romantic relationships were an important setting for these activities, especially among older girls. For boys, using online pornography to become sexually aroused was the only reason that increased with age. One-third of the respondents accessed online pornography in order to learn something about sex. The results suggest that adolescents use online pornography in line with their psychosexual development, and this finding needs to be taken into consideration when providing sex education in schools. This suggestion might be challenging, since this study also showed that adolescents were reluctant to talk about online pornography use with adults.

Effectiveness of coping strategies for victims of cyberbullying

Although cyberbullying is a well-studied online risk, little is known about the effectiveness of various coping strategies for its victims. Therefore, this study on 2,092 Czech children aged 12-18 examined which coping strategies were applied most often and to what extent victims of cyber aggression judged them to be effective. Effectiveness was measured in two ways: the extent to which the coping strategy buffered negative emotions, and the extent to which it stopped the cyber aggression. The subsample of 422 respondents (68% girls) who experienced online attacks was divided into two groups: victims of cyberbullying, who experienced long-term and severe victimization, and victims of less severe online harassment. The selection of strategies was compared between these groups and the most prevalent and effective strategies were identified. Overall, respondents in both groups used more than one strategy at once, but for victims of cyberbullying, most of the strategies proved less effective. Both groups showed similar patterns in their use of technical solutions, and both quite frequently sought social support. Also, both groups showed a low tendency for retaliation. Large differences were found in how respondents employed cognitive responses, such as trying to detach mentally from bullying incidents; these strategies were less frequent among victims of cyberbullying. In terms of effectiveness, victims of harassment considered technical solutions such as blocking contacts on social websites, seeking support, or ignoring the bully on purpose the most effective in stopping victimization, as opposed to victims of cyberbullying, who found them less effective, even though they used them as frequently as victims of online harassment. Differences in the effectiveness of coping strategies are discussed with regard to the intervention and prevention of cyberbullying.

How parents can affect excessive spending of time on screen-based activities

BackgroundThe aim of this study is to explore the association between family-related factors and excessive time spent on screen-based activities among school-aged children.MethodsA cross-sectional survey using the methodology of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study was performed in 2013, with data collected from Slovak (n = 258) and Czech (n = 406) 11- and 15-year-old children. The effects of age, gender, availability of a TV or computer in the bedroom, parental rules on time spent watching TV or working on a computer, parental rules on the content of TV programmes and computer work and watching TV together with parents on excessive time spent with screen-based activities were explored using logistic regression models.ResultsTwo-thirds of respondents watch TV or play computer games at least two hours a day. Older children have a 1.80-times higher chance of excessive TV watching (CI: 1.30-2.51) and a 3.91-times higher chance of excessive computer use (CI: 2.82-5.43) in comparison with younger children. More than half of children have a TV (53%) and a computer (73%) available in their bedroom, which increases the chance of excessive TV watching by 1.59 times (CI: 1.17-2.16) and of computer use by 2.25 times (CI: 1.59-3.20). More than half of parents rarely or never apply rules on the length of TV watching (64%) or time spent on computer work (56%), and their children have a 1.76-times higher chance of excessive TV watching (CI: 1.26-2.46) and a 1.50-times greater chance of excessive computer use (CI: 1.07-2.08). A quarter of children reported that they are used to watching TV together with their parents every day, and these have a 1.84-times higher chance of excessive TV watching (1.25-2.70).ConclusionsReducing time spent watching TV by applying parental rules or a parental role model might help prevent excessive time spent on screen-based activities.

Girls' and boys' experience with teen sexting in early and late adolescence

This study explored the extent to which sexting represents a problematic behavior in early and late adolescence. Using data from the EU Kids Online II project (17,016 participants aged 11-16 from 25 European countries, 49.7% boys), multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted separately for four groups: younger girls, older girls, younger boys, and older boys. Irrespective of age and gender, sexting was associated with emotional problems and alcohol use. Its effect decreased in older adolescents, except for emotional difficulties, which remained relatively high in older boys. Vaginal sex was associated with sexting in both younger and older boys while, in girls, the association was observed only in the older group. Younger boys with higher self-efficacy were more likely to send sexts than those with lower self-efficacy. Although sexting is associated with psychological challenges and other types of risk behavior, sexting in some younger boys may not necessarily represent problematic behavior.

Outcomes of using the internet for sexual purposes: fulfilment of sexual desires

BACKGROUND The purpose of the current study was to examine the characteristics of those who report fulfillment of sexual desires as a result of internet use for sexual purposes and which sexually related online activities contribute to the fulfillment of sexual desires. METHODS Data were collected through a questionnaire posted on Swedish-language websites in 2009. The sample comprised 1614 respondents who reported using the internet for sexual purposes, 62% women and 38% men. RESULTS The results showed that the majority of the respondents had their sexual desires fulfilled as a result of their sexually related activities on the internet; 21% to a great extent and 59% to a small extent, but 20% did not have their sexual desires fulfilled. Using a multinomial logistic regression analysis, respondents who had their sexual desires fulfilled to a small or great extent were each compared with those who did not have their sexual desires fulfilled at all. At the level of individual characteristics and sexual behaviours, those with no fulfillment of their sexual desires did not differ from those who had their sexual desires fulfilled, with the exceptions of age and masturbation. In comparison to fulfillment to a small extent, fulfillment of sexual desires to a great extent was predicted by a larger number of sexually related online activities that were based on interaction. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that the internet may contribute to fulfillment of sexual desires among a large internet population, irrespective of sex or sexual identity.

Bothersome Exposure to Online Sexual Content Among Adolescent Girls

Prior research suggests that adolescent girls may react more negatively to online sexual content than boys. This study explored the qualitative experiences of adolescent girls who encountered bothersome or disturbing sexual content online. Fourteen girls (aged 15-17 years) were interviewed online about the context in which they saw bothersome sexual material and the reasons for their negative reactions. Results showed that participants felt bothered while using the Internet at home and in public, while engaging in online exploration, information seeking, or chatting with new acquaintances. Participants were also bothered when the sexual content portrayed sex of an extreme nature, seemed inappropriate for their age, broke norms for establishing romantic relationships, or threatened their home life. The impact of these experiences is discussed, especially in light of the participants’ statements that they did not tell their parents or guardians about their experiences with bothersome online content.

Predictors of Online and Offline Sexual Activities and Behaviors Among Adolescents

Despite the fact that many adolescents spend much time on the Internet, it is unknown who engages in sexually related online activities (SROA) and how these affect adolescent sexual development. The present longitudinal study on 323 adolescents (51.1% girls) aimed to explore how peer attachment processes predicted both SROA and offline sexual behaviors at the age of 17, while also considering puberty and prior offline sexual experiences in order to elucidate potential similarities or differences. Findings based on hierarchical, binary logistic regression analyses revealed that SROA were predicted by alienation attachment to peers (OR=3.36, p<0.05), puberty (OR=1.03, p<0.05), and prior SROA (OR=0.56, p<0.001), while only previous offline sexual experiences at the age of 15 increased the likelihood of offline sexual behaviors at the age of 17 (OR=6.04, p<0.001). Study findings indicate that the Internet provides an additional context for acquiring sexual experiences during adolescence.