Prevention of Cyberbullying and Cyber Victimization: Evaluation of the ViSC Social Competence Program

Petra Gradinger, Takuya Yanagida, Dagmar Strohmeier, Christiane Spiel

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

It is well-documented that cyberbullying and victimization co-occur with traditional forms indicating that they share similar mechanisms. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the general antibullying program ViSC might also be effective in tackling these new forms of bullying. A longitudinal randomized control group design has been applied to examine the program effectiveness in 18 schools. In total, 2,042 students in Grades 5 to 7 (47.3% girls) aged 11.7 (SD = 0.9) attending 105 classes participated in the study. Utilizing a multiple group bivariate latent change score model controlling for traditional aggression, traditional victimization, and age, results demonstrate program effectiveness for cyberbullying (latent d = 0.39) and cyber victimization (latent d = 0.29) indicating that these behaviors reflect a systemic (school) problem.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)87-110
Number of pages24
JournalJournal of School Violence
Volume14
Issue number1
Early online date24 Oct 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 501002 Applied psychology
  • 501016 Educational psychology

Keywords

  • ADOLESCENCE
  • AGGRESSION
  • MISSING DATA
  • PEER
  • RISK
  • SCHOOL-BASED PROGRAMS
  • STUDENTS
  • VIOLENCE PREVENTION
  • bullying
  • cyber victimization
  • cyberbullying
  • early adolescence
  • effectiveness
  • evaluation
  • program
  • victimization

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