Matthew W. Savage

Prevalence and Predictors of Cyberbullying Perpetration by High School Seniors

Cyberbullying is the deliberate and repeated misuse of communication technology by an individual or group to threaten or harm others. Guided largely by the communication skills deficiency model and previous research on cyberbullying, this study examins the effects of several predictor variables (i.e., verbal aggression, sex, risky behaviors, parental monitoring, parental limits, technology use, and scope of Internet activities) on cyberbullying perpetration. A total of 1,606 incoming freshmen at a large southwestern university completed an online survey measuring all predictor and dependent variables under investigation. Overall, 35% of these individuals reported that they had cyberbullied at least one person during their senior year of high school. Results indicated that verbal aggression, risky behaviors, and cyberbullying victimization emerged as significant predictors of cyberbullying perpetration. These results have important theoretical and practical implications for those interested in developing cyberbullying prevention interventions.

Outcome Evaluation Results of School-Based Cybersafety Promotion and Cyberbullying Prevention Intervention for Middle School Students

Guided largely by the Extended Parallel Process Model, the Arizona Attorney General’s Social Networking Safety Promotion and Cyberbullying Prevention presentation attempts to shape, change, and reinforce middle school students’ perceptions, attitudes, and intentions related to these important social issues. This study evaluated the short-term effects of this presentation in a field experiment using a posttest-only control-group design with random assignment to conditions. A total of 425 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at a public middle school in a large Southwestern city participated in this study. Results reveal several interesting trends across grade levels regarding cyberbullying perpetration and victimization, and concerning access to various communication technologies. The intervention had the hypothesized main effect on eight of the dependent variables under investigation. Examination of condition by grade interaction effects offered further support for an additional four hypotheses (i.e., the intervention positively affected or reversed a negative trend on four dependent variables in at least one grade). Ideas and implications for future social networking safety promotion and cyberbullying prevention interventions are discussed.

‘I’m not sexist, but . . .’: How ideological dilemmas reinforce sexism in talk about intimate partner violence

In order to extend knowledge about the communicative aspects of intimate partner violence (IPV), we ask how those who talk about IPV frame the relationship between gender and power. How does their framing account for the role of gender in IPV perpetration? A critical discourse analysis of conversations from focus groups and interviews reveals that when participants talk about IPV, they rely on ideological dilemmas in available understandings of the relationship between gender and power. As participants use disclaimers, competing interpretive repertoires, and extreme case arguments to navigate these dilemmas, their talk closes space for a critique of gender and power that considers systemic factors and benevolent sexism. Instead, participants focus more on individual pathology and the most overt forms of sexism. The tensions that produce this closure may also reveal contradictions that provide opportunities for reshaping public conversations about IPV and its relationship to gender and power.

Strategies for communicating with older dental patients

BACKGROUND Communication between dentists and patients 65 years or older is a critical aspect of providing optimum care, particularly given the increasing number of older adults and the communication barriers they often encounter. METHODS The authors conducted a targeted literature review of the broad health communication literature and published health literacy guidelines to examine the barriers to effective communication that are specific to the older adult population, as well as strategies for overcoming these barriers. RESULTS Findings from health communication and health literacy research provide insight into techniques to improve communication with older patients, such as preparing an agenda for the appointment, exhibiting warm nonverbal behavior, listening attentively, asking open-ended questions, using simple language, presenting key points one at a time and providing patients with written instructions. CONCLUSIONS Physical, psychological and literacy issues pertaining to both patients and providers present barriers to effective communication. Practitioners can surmount these barriers by enacting communication strategies tailored to older adults. Practical Implications. Dentists can overcome barriers to communication and improve the quality of patient care by considering the communication barriers specific to older adults and enacting strategies to overcome these barriers.

Assessing the Relationships Between Perceived Support From Close Others, Goal Commitment, and Persistence Decisions at the College Level

Research on supportive communication was examined in relation to students’ goals of earning a college degree and their intent to persist. Theories of student departure (Bean, 1985; Tinto, 1993) informed research questions assessing the impact of how social support from family members and friends affected commitment to the goal of graduation and how commitment to the goal of graduation influenced intent to persist. First-year college students completed a questionnaire at 2 time points during their first year of college. Results revealed that initial support from family and friends positively impacted initial commitment to the goal of graduation. Subsequent support from family impacted subsequent commitment to the goal of graduating, and subsequent commitment to graduating impacted intention to persist.

“Maybe She Was Provoked” Exploring Gender Stereotypes About Male and Female Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence

The current study is concerned with the different types of gender stereotypes that participants may draw upon when exposed to news stories about intimate partner violence (IPV). We qualitatively analyzed open-ended responses examining four types of gender stereotypes—aggression, emotional, power and control, and acceptability of violence. We offer theoretical implications that extend past research on intimate terrorism and situational couple violence, the gender symmetry debate, and how stereotypes are formed. We also discuss practical implications for journalists who write stories about IPV and individuals who provide services to victims and perpetrators.

Let’s Clear the Air: a campaign that effectively increased compliance with a university’s tobacco-free policy

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the Let’s Clear the Air campaign, a print-based campaign guided by the theory of planned behavior, designed to increase compliance with a University’s tobacco-free policy among undergraduate student smokers. We hypothesized that individual-level compliance behaviors would increase with greater campaign exposure and that population-level compliance would improve post-intervention from baseline. To assess individual-level compliance, we collected survey data from 284 randomly selected undergraduate student smokers. To assess population-level compliance, we collected observational data by counting smokers in 10 violation locations for 10 weeks (three 30-minute periods per week). Data supported the hypotheses: Campaign exposure was related to an increase in individual-level compliance behaviors, and results from a negative binomial regression supported that population-level compliance improved from baseline to post-intervention. Implications regarding support for the campaign as an effective strategy for increasing tobacco-free policy compliance behaviors are discussed.

Full length articleMoving toward a theory: Testing an integrated model of cyberbullying perpetration, aggression, social skills, and Internet self-efficacy

Research on cyberbullying has been steadily growing among scholars who endeavor to understand when and under what conditions it occurs. This study utilizes general aggression theory to contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the confluence of inputs that goes into decision-making involving cyberbullying perpetration. Young adult college students were surveyed to examine whether person-specific inputs, including trait verbal aggression, Internet self-efficacy, and social skills, contribute to cyberbullying perpetration. Results indicated that verbal aggression was consistently positively associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Further analysis revealed that the interaction between verbal aggressiveness and social skills on cyberbullying perpetration depended on ones level of Internet self-efficacy. At low levels of Internet self-efficacy, trait aggressiveness and social skills do little to inform cyberbullying perpetration; however, participants with high Internet self-efficacy and high trait verbal aggressiveness are less likely to send hurtful or embarrassing messages over the Internet or mobile technologies as their social skills grow. Contributions to theory and practice are discussed. General aggression theory is useful for explaining, investigating, and advancing cyberbullying scholarship.Trait verbal aggression is consistently positively associated with cyberbullying perpetration.Internet self-efficacy moderates the relationship between verbal aggression and social skill.The interaction of verbal aggressiveness and social skills on cyberbullying perpetration depends on Internet self-efficacy.At low Internet self-efficacy, verbal aggressiveness and social skills do little to predict cyberbullying perpetration.

Moving toward a theory

Research on cyberbullying has been steadily growing among scholars who endeavor to understand when and under what conditions it occurs. This study utilizes general aggression theory to contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the confluence of inputs that goes into decision-making involving cyberbullying perpetration. Young adult college students were surveyed to examine whether person-specific inputs, including trait verbal aggression, Internet self-efficacy, and social skills, contribute to cyberbullying perpetration. Results indicated that verbal aggression was consistently positively associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Further analysis revealed that the interaction between verbal aggressiveness and social skills on cyberbullying perpetration depended on ones level of Internet self-efficacy. At low levels of Internet self-efficacy, trait aggressiveness and social skills do little to inform cyberbullying perpetration; however, participants with high Internet self-efficacy and high trait verbal aggressiveness are less likely to send hurtful or embarrassing messages over the Internet or mobile technologies as their social skills grow. Contributions to theory and practice are discussed. General aggression theory is useful for explaining, investigating, and advancing cyberbullying scholarship.Trait verbal aggression is consistently positively associated with cyberbullying perpetration.Internet self-efficacy moderates the relationship between verbal aggression and social skill.The interaction of verbal aggressiveness and social skills on cyberbullying perpetration depends on Internet self-efficacy.At low Internet self-efficacy, verbal aggressiveness and social skills do little to predict cyberbullying perpetration.

The Short-term Effects of a Cyberbullying Prevention Intervention for Parents of Middle School Students

This study experimentally evaluated the short-term effects of the Arizona Attorney General’s cybersafety promotion presentation, a key component of which is cyberbullying prevention. Fifty-one parents of children attending a middle school in the southwestern United States participated in the study. Results reveal parents who viewed the presentation believed their children to be more susceptible to cyberbullying, and indicated that they were more likely to talk to their children about saving evidence, not retaliating, and telling an adult compared to parents who had not viewed the presentation. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.