Rosario Del Rey

Structural validation and cross-cultural robustness of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire

Cyberbullying is a dynamic relationship between the aggressor and the victim.Establishing the prevalence of cyberbullying is difficult due to the instruments used.The instrument validated integrates the traditional bullying characteristics.Differences in prevalence of cyberbullying among countries using a single instrument. During the last decade, cyberbullying has become an increasing concern which has been addressed by diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. As a result there is a debate about its nature and rigorously validated assessment instruments have not yet been validated. In this context, in the present study an instrument composed of 22 items representing the different types of behaviours and actions that define cyberbullying has been structurally validated and its cross-cultural robustness has been calculated for the two main dimensions: cyber-victimization and cyber-aggression. To this end, 5679 secondary school students from six European countries (Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, and Greece) were surveyed through this self-report questionnaire which was designed based on previously existing instruments and the most relevant conceptual elements. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted and the global internal consistency was computed for the instrument and its two dimensions. Identical factor structures were found across all of the six subsamples. The results contribute to existing research by providing an instrument, the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, which has been structurally validated in a wide sample from six different countries and that is useful to evaluate psycho-educative interventions against cyberbullying.

A Comparison of Classification Approaches for Cyberbullying and Traditional Bullying Using Data from Six European Countries.

In recently published studies on cyberbullying, students are frequently categorized into distinct (cyber)bully and (cyber)victim clusters based on theoretical assumptions and arbitrary cut-off scores adapted from traditional bullying research. The present study identified involvement classes empirically using latent class analysis (LCA), to compare the classification of cyber- and traditional bullying and to compare LCA and the conventional approach. Participants were 6,260 students (M = 14.8 years, SD = 1.6; 49.1% male) from six European countries. LCA resulted in three classes for cyberbullying and four classes for traditional bullying. Cyber- and traditional bullying differed from each other, as did LCA and the conventional approach. Country, age, and gender differences were found. Implications for the field of traditional and cyberbullying research are discussed.

Impact of the ConRed program on different cyberbulling roles

This article presents results from an evaluation of the ConRed cyberbullying intervention program. The programs impacts were separately determined for the different roles within cyberbullying that students can take, i.e., cyber-victims, cyber-bullies, cyber-bully/victims, and bystanders. The ConRed program is a theory-driven program designed to prevent cyberbullying and improve cyberbullying coping skills. It involves students, teachers, and families. During a 3-month period, external experts conducted eight training sessions with students, two with teachers and one with families. ConRed was evaluated through a quasi-experimental design, in which students from three secondary schools were separated into experimental and control groups. The sample comprised 875 students, aged between 11 and 19 years. More students (n = 586) were allocated to the experimental groups at the specific insistence of the management of all schools; the remainder (n = 289) formed the control. Repeated measures MANOVA showed that cyber victims, cyber aggressors and cyberbully/victims reduced their involvement in cyberbullying. Moreover, cyber-victims and bystanders adjusted their perceptions about their control of personal information on the Internet, and cyber aggressors and bystanders reduced their Internet dependence. The ConRed program had stronger effects on male participants, especially in heightening their affective empathy.

Factores Asociados a la Implicación en Bullying: Un Estudio en Nicaragua

School bullying is one of the main problems affecting the quality of peer relationships in schools and in general the coexistence. At European level, there are scientific findings that indicate its nature, characteristics and factors related to its involvement. However, in poor and developing countries, where the problem is more serious, there is a high degree of awareness on this matter. The present study aimed to identify what factors may be influencing the occurrence of bullying in a representative sample of primary schools in the Nicaraguan capital. For this propose, 3042 students from Managua and its metropolitan area were explored with instruments comparable to those used in Europe. A multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that being a boy, to show antisocial behaviors and attitudes and contact with drugs were the three factors most related with the role of aggressor, as well as negative relationships had a significant influence on involvement in this phenomenon, either as a victim, aggressor or victimized aggressor. Results are discussed in relation to the profiles of aggressor and victim of bullying in international studies focusing on differences in developed countries.

Towards the construct of cyberconvivencia / Hacia el constructo ciberconvivencia

Abstract The quality of social relationships in schools has been considered to be a relevant issue in the prevention of problems related to educational convivencia, such as bullying. Nowadays, these relationships have been enriched by digital devices, which not only offer new potentialities, but also new problems. In fact, convivencia has turned into cyber convivencia and some phenomena, such as bullying, have turned into cyberbullying. In this study, we analysed the possible relation between direct school convivencia and virtual life, and particularly, the predictive power of the school convivencia over cyberbullying. For these purposes, we surveyed 893 Compulsory Secondary Education students (45.9% girls) about the quality of the convivencia and the involvement in cyberbullying. The results offer a good fixed structural equation model in which the quality of the horizontal and vertical relationships is a predictor variable of cyberbullying. Therefore, the results in this study are proof of the relation between the quality of the direct school convivencia and the problems that arise in virtual environments.

Parenting styles and bullying involvement / Estilos parentales e implicación en bullying

Abstract The present research was conducted to explore the relationship between bullying and parenting styles in an incidental sample of 626 high school students (49.7% girls). The information was collected by means of a self-report questionnaire that contained two instruments: European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and Scale for the assessment of the parenting styles of mothers and fathers of adolescents. The results show statistically significant differences in the perception of parenting styles between the students involved and not involved in bullying and between the different kinds of involvement. Different dimensions of parenting styles are also categorized as being risk or protective factors of bullying involvement. In agreement with the previous research, we have specifically found that perception of parenting styles (especially behavioural control and affection and communication) is significantly related to bullying involvement, especially regarding the role of aggressor.

Bullying: The impact of teacher management and trait emotional intelligence

BACKGROUND The bullying phenomenon has serious consequences for those that are involved. In order to find more effective ways to eradicate it from the schools, more research is needed. In this context, teacher management and emotional intelligence (EI) are shown to be relevant keys to consider. AIM The aim of this study was to analyse the ways in which teacher management and trait EI affect involvement in bullying aggression and victimization. SAMPLE A total of 2,806 Spanish schoolchildren (51.8% girls; Age M = 15.44; SD = 1.79) participated in this transversal study. METHODS Self-report questionnaires were administrated; four of the dimensions of the Schoolwide Climate Scale: Bullying victimization; bullying aggression; positive teacher management; and negative teacher management. They also completed the Spanish version of the TMMS-24 EI questionnaire. After encoding the data, six structural equation models were created to study the direct and joint effects of teacher management and trait EI on bullying aggression and victimization. The models were run for both the whole sample and split samples based on the education cycles and sex. RESULTS Results showed that both positive and negative teacher management were closely linked to involvement in bullying aggression and victimization. EI was also found to be directly related to bullying involvement. Furthermore, results revealed that teacher management was directly related to trait EI. Education cycle differences were found, but no sex-specific differences were apparent in the sample. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions of the study highlight the important role that teacher management plays with regard to bullying involvement and trait EI, and include a discussion of the need to include teacher management in bullying prevention programmes at schools.

Homophobic Bullying and Cyberbullying: Study of a Silenced Problem

ABSTRACT Bullying and cyberbullying have been studied extensively. In lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) students, these phenomena seem to be overrepresented so that, although they share some common elements, homophobic bullying and cyberbullying could be considered as specific phenomena. This study analyzed homophobic bullying and cyberbullying, with the participation of 533 Spanish secondary school students aged from 12 to 20 (M = 14.9, SD = 1.7). The results showed that students identified as non-heterosexual experienced a higher level of being targeted with bullying and cyberbullying, almost one half of them declaring that they had been victimized and more than 20% cybervictimized. Many stated they had suffered both kinds of harassment. In addition, the prevalence of all kinds of bullying was higher among non-heterosexual students. Regression analyses showed that sexual orientation could be considered a risk factor for suffering these aggressions. We discuss results in relation to previous research and look at their practical implications.

Unfavorable predisposition towards mathematics learning: a measurement proposal

Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas y Matematicas, Universidad de ConcepcionRESUMENEste estudio presenta la utilizacion y adaptacion de una escala para evaluar las actitudes, emociones y creencias de los estudiantes sobre su competencia en matematicas, asi como tambien la autovaloracion respecto de su exito/fracaso academico en la disciplina curricular de Matematicas. La muestra esta compuesta por n= 1154 estudiantes chilenos de ensenanza secundaria. Los resultados dan cuenta de la capacidad del factor de bloqueo emocional ante las tareas matematicas como dimension explicativa sobre el exito o fracaso ante dichas tareas, pero no confirman ni la dimension de autoconfianza ni la llamada resiliencia, como factores relevantes para dicha explicacion. Los resultados se discuten en relacion con la literatura sobre el papel de las actitudes y predisposicion ante el aprendizaje de esta disciplina curricular. Ademas, se discute tambien la necesidad educativa de prestar atencion a los factores emocionales en esta area del curriculum escolar de la Educacion chilena.This study presents the use and adaptation of a scale that assesses both students’ personal attitudes, emotions and beliefs regarding their mathematics competencies as well as students’ self-appraisal regarding their success or academic failure in Mathematics as a curriculum discipline. The sample is composed of n=1154 secondary Chilean students. The results show that the factor “emotional block” is a relevant explanatory dimension regarding success or failure in mathematical tasks; on the other hand, the dimensions self-confidence and resilience were not found to be explanatory factors for success or failure in mathematics. The results are discussed in relation to the literature on the role of attitude and predisposition towards learning for this curriculum discipline. Additionally, the educational need to pay attention to emotional factors in this area of the Chilean educational curriculum is also discussed in this article.

The ConRed program: Educating in cybercoexistence and cyberbullying prevention by improving coexistence projects in schools

Abstract The improvement of interpersonal life is a priority education objective in most the educational systems. In Spain, the fulfillment of such an objective is the task of the Projects of Convivencia , which seek the involvement of all of the members of the educational community to promote better peer relationships in schools. One such project is on bullying. The use of multimedia mobile devices, smartphones, tablets, laptops has transformed the convivencia into cyberconvivencia and the bullying into cyberbullying. Schools therefore need to consider in their Projects of Convivencia that interpersonal relationships are now maintained through technology. Despite this, the scientific community has limited resources to offer to schools on the issue of cyberbullying due to the lack of evidence-based practice. This chapter describes the ConRed program showcasing aspects cyberconvivencia for the prevention of cyberbullying, such as training and working with teachers, families, and pupils about the impact of social networks on their social and emotional lives.