An introduction to the special issue on cyberbullying in Asia and Pacific: its nature and impact

ABSTRACT

Recently research on cyberbullying has been extensive, but mostly in Western societies. Cyberbullying is a new and unique form of bullying behaviour, which is affected by several protective and risk factors as well as is associated with behavioural, psychological and health outcomes. This introduction provides a background of cyberbullying in the Asia-Pacific context, summarises seven studies included in this special issue, and suggests a direction for cyberbullying prevention and the young’s well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Cyberbullying
• victimisation and perpetration
• nature and impact
• children and youth
• Asia and Pacific

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lee Jungup

Jungup Lee, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at National University of Singapore. Her research seeks to refine the understanding of how adverse childhood events influence subsequent behavioral and health outcomes. Her research interests include traditional and cyberbullying, victimization and perpetration, school violence and safety, at-risk children and youth, juvenile justice and criminal justice, youth mental health and substance use.

Yi-Ping Hsieh

Yi-Ping Hsieh, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of North Dakota. Her primary research focus is the joint effects of multidimensional risk and protective factors on the behavioral and psychological outcomes of children and adolescents, as well as potential underlying mechanisms in an ecological systems model and a lifespan developmental perspective. She has worked on several large-scale national longitudinal studies in the United States and Taiwan on the topics of health disparities, child maltreatment, problematic Internet use, and victimization.

Robert Thornberg

Robert Thornberg, PhD, is a Professor of Education at the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden. His current research includes school bullying, especially with a focus on social and moral processes involved in bullying, bystander rationales, reactions and actions, and students’ perspectives and explanations.