The overlap between cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation: exploring the psychosocial characteristics of Hong Kong adolescents

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the overlap between cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation among 1,893 adolescents. The prevalence of general, overt-aggressive, and relational-aggressive cyberbullying was examined, based on the adolescents’ psychosocial characteristics including self-esteem, prosocial behaviour, empathy, family attachment, perception of a harmonious school, sense of school belonging, and positive school experiences. Results revealed that different kinds of cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation were positively correlated, and further tests using multivariate analysis confirmed the relationship between these two experiences. Logistic regressions suggested that cyberbullying perpetration could predict victimisation, regardless of the type of cyberbullying behaviour, and a considerable degree of overlap was found between different types of cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation based on the further results of bivariate probit models. The rho correlations from these unadjusted bivariate probit models suggested that the categories of general, overt-aggressive, and relational-aggressive cyberbullying were significantly overlapped. To conclude, implications for clinical practice and the study’s limitations are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Cyberbullying
• cyberbullying perpetration
• cyberbullying victimisation victim-offender overlap
• adolescent

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was partially supported by The Research Grants Council of Hong Kong [CityU/11613018].

Notes on contributors

Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan

Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan, PhD, is Associate Professor of Criminology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR. His research focuses on Asian criminology, sexual homicide, sexual and violent offending, and stalking behaviour; and has published extensively in these topics. He has since published four academic books on sexual homicide, Asian criminal justice, and stalking behaviour. He sits on the editorial board of several top-tier SSCI-indexed peer-reviewed journals in criminology and psychology (e.g., Journal of Criminal Justice, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, and Frontiers in Psychology). Some of his recent work has appeared in Journal of Criminal Justice, Sexual Abuse, Aggression and Violent Behavior, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Forensic Science International, Legal and Criminological Psychology, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, and Behavioral Sciences & the Law.

Dennis S. W. Wong

Dennis S. W. Wong, PhD, is Professor of Criminology and Social Work at Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, and Acting University Librarian, City University of Hong Kong. His areas of expertise include juvenile delinquency, bullying studies and restorative justice. Prof Wong is honorary consultant on youth drugs abuse, school bullying and offenders’ rehabilitation for governmental organisations. He also serves as board member for a number of non-governmental organisations and academic societies. Apart from publishing articles in local and international journals, he has published books and monographs related to criminology, juvenile delinquency, school bullying, alternative to prosecution and restorative justice.