Abstract
Cyber-bullying is a recently emerging type of violence, which has gained significant media and research attention. Although research across Europe and the USA has been extensive, in Greece it is sparse and at an elementary level. This paper aimed at reviewing existing research literature on cyber-bullying experiences with Greek subjects. The bibliographical research carried out for this purpose yielded studies conducted between 2005 and 2012. Findings illustrate that to date, most evidence regarding cyber-bullying in Greece is drawn from European-level research projects which mainly provide statistics regarding the prevalence of the phenomenon, but give little information regarding its correlates, while most of the few national studies are conducted with small, non-nationwide samples or have not been published in scholarly papers. In conclusion, cyber-bullying research seems to be at a premature level in Greece, but it is a global issue that sooner or later should be systematically addressed.
Introduction
School bullying has been receiving increased scientific attention during the last decade, a rise that could be accredited to its arguably damaging potential effects on an individual and school community level (Olweus & Limber, Citation1999). Bullying is described as a hostile and proactive type of aggression, characterised by repetition and willful pain infliction (either direct or indirect) to the victim, who is perceived as lower in power status compared to the perpetrator (Elinoff, Chafouleas, & Sassu, Citation2004). Empirical data have suggested that school bullying exists in all countries regardless the cultural, political and religious backgrounds (Berger, Citation2007). Relatively recently, the phenomenon has emerged with a new form, cyber-bullying, which concerns the use of Information Communications Technologies (ICTs), a landmark of the twenty-first century that has undeniably affected youth's social interactions and behaviour. According to researchers, cyber-bullying refers to bullying and harassment of others by means of new electronic technologies, primarily mobile phones and the Internet (Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho, & Tippett, Citation2006). It is considered to be a form of traditional bullying, on the grounds that it is characterised by the same core criteria (intention to hurt the victim, unprovoked action, repetition over time, power imbalance between the bully and the victim) (e.g. Olweus, Citation1993), but serious doubts have been expressed regarding the criteria of repetition and power imbalance. The actions of cyber-bullying can be either direct (i.e. virus sending in order to cause property damage to the victim, persistent name-calling, threats, insults) or indirect (i.e. identity theft and impersonation of another user for malicious purposes, rumour spreading through and exclusion from online social networks) (e.g. Riebel, Jager, & Fischer, Citation2009), but it has been argued that due to the capacity for anonymity and invisibility that the Internet provides, cyber-bullying can be primarily considered as an indirect form of aggression. Worldwide research indicates that cyber-bullying has now evolved to a common type of aggression that concerns middle primary and secondary school students, bearing similar or greater prevalence to traditional bullying, especially at the age of 14–15 (e.g. Smith et al., Citation2006).
In Greece, similarly to traditional bullying research, which emerged with relative delay, cyber-bullying has lately received empirical attention. During the last years, a sudden increase in interest by academics, unions, regional and national authorities was observed, due to the rapid ICT diffusion (Hellenic Statistical Authority, Citation2008) and the ensuing concern regarding children's Internet safety. Online dangers have recurrently been over-emphasised by the Greek media, which have typified the Internet as a dangerous setting for youngsters, while cyber-bullying has been described as an ‘epidemic’ and is being confused with other Internet-related dangers, such as pedophilia, pornography and suicide (Tsaliki, Citation2010).
Primarily, on account of the reported difficulty of guardians' and educators to handle potential Internet threats (mainly due to their lack of knowledge) (Tsaliki & Chronaki, Citation2010), much information has been provided during the last few years to students, teachers and parents regarding youngsters' safe ICT use and cyber-bullying, in particular, through training programmes, scientific conferences, workshops and meetings.
For example, in 2008, the Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs developed an educational awareness-raising programme regarding Internet-related dangers and safe Internet use, designed for parents (Minedu, Citation2008), whereas before that, similar educational programmes had also been implemented. Prior to these initiatives, various bodies had also produced awareness material, which were exclusively targeted to students (i.e. the Ombudsman for children, the Digital Awareness & Response to Threats – DART). In 2011, the University of Macedonia and the Hellenic Physical Society (EEF, Citation2011) announced the launch of an annual seminar on cyber-bullying, addressing to teachers, pediatricians, child psychologists and parents. During the same year, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the Adolescent Health Unit (AHU) of the Second Department of the University's Pediatric Hospital, organised the ARIADNAE programme, which was intended to train professionals working with children and adolescents (i.e. employers of the health and educational sectors, and social workers), on Internet addiction and other dangers that excessive Internet users face (AHU, Citation2011).
Although training and awareness-raising programmes against cyber-bullying have gradually started to develop during the last years, it is yet unclear whether these are guided and designed based on theoretical backgrounds, or they plainly follow existing European prevention and intervention programmes. The country has had a low ICT penetration until recently, but this trend is starting to change. Further ICT utilisation could increase the danger of related problematic behaviours, such as cyber-bullying (Hasebrink, Livingstone, & Haddon, Citation2008), which, due to its potentially damaging consequences (Hinduja & Patchin, Citation2009), should become the focus of systematic research, especially in the case of youth, who are among the age groups with the heaviest ICT use. Although this shift is observed in other Mediterranean countries, such as Italy, Spain and Cyprus, Greece is a country with great geographical diversification, which, during the last years, has undergone an advanced economic development, followed by an ongoing economic crisis and a high risk of economic default. The rapid economical developments have impacted upon the national, social and cultural contexts, including violence among youth (e.g. Kalliotis, Citation2000). Furthermore, despite the potential similarities to other Mediterranean countries of the European South, e.g. in terms of ICT advances, their lack of systematic research evidence regarding cyber-bullying (Mora-Merchán & Jäger, Citation2011) does not allow for mutual comparisons. In addition, the rapid advances in technology have left a jurisprudence gap and for the establishment of regulations that will respond to the nation's needs in terms of ICT threats, a study and codification of the relative empirical and sociological assets are needed (Nouskalis, Citation2012).
Thus, the aim of this paper is to review the existing research evidence on cyber-bullying experiences among Greek youth. More specifically, this review is purported to trace the existing evidence that derives from research published in scientific journals, presented in scientific meetings or conducted for the fulfilment of the requirements of postgraduate degrees. Furthermore, it aims at presenting information regarding Greek bodies that are involved with safe ICT use and Greek or European initiatives that concern cyber-bullying. The final aim of this paper is to draw conclusions regarding existing and ongoing research on cyber-bullying incidents among Greek youth and suggests future directions for research based on current evidence.
Method
A systematic bibliographic search was conducted for the needs of this literature review in the following electronic databases: Cambridge Journals, Greek National Archive of PhD Theses, HEAL-Link Library, ERIC, Informaworld, Ingenta Connect, Oxford ProQuest Research Library, Reference Online, PsycInfo, Sage, Scirus, Science Direct, Scopus, Wiley Online Library, Wilson Education and Wilson Social Sciences. The goal of this search was to trace published articles in peer-reviewed journals and/or unpublished dissertations/theses. In addition, a general Internet search was also conducted so as to locate (a) research regarding cyber-bullying in Greece that has been presented in scientific conferences and meetings, (b) information regarding Greek bodies involved with safe Internet use and (c) Greek or European initiatives that are concerned with cyber-bullying among Greek youth. This information is deemed necessary in order to obtain a better understanding on the developments of safe ICT use in Greece. Keywords, as well as combinations of keywords included the following: cyber-bullying, cyber-victimisation, Internet bullying, Internet victimisation, online bullying, online victimisation, online harassment, Internet harassment, Greece and Greek students. No time frame was applied within the search results.
Results yielded a total of 15 studies that have been conducted from 2005 to 2012 regarding cyber-bullying experiences among Greek youth. To the best of our knowledge, three of them have been published in peer-reviewed journals, four are under review, two have been published as book chapters, three have been presented in national and international conferences and three are informally published (i.e. organisations' websites). Since cyber-bullying research is still at a very elementary stage in Greece, informally published studies and studies that are being under preparation or under review for publication to the best of our knowledge were not excluded from the review but were critically considered. It must be noted though that some of the aforementioned studies have been presented in scientific conferences and have therefore, to some extent, undergone peer review. Studies regarding other Internet-related behaviours and threats were not included in the review (i.e. Internet addiction, pornography and gambling). Information regarding Greek bodies that are concerned with safe ICT use as well as information regarding preventive initiatives was derived mainly from online published reports and organisations' websites.
For the purposes of this review, results are organised into three sections. The first section provides information regarding various professional bodies involved with safe ICT use in Greece, as well as reports of their research findings. In the second section, published research evidence regarding cyber-bullying in Greece is presented and analysed. In the last section, the results of conference presentations (traced in national and international conference books of proceedings/abstracts) are briefly mentioned.
Finally, ‘Discussion’ section summarises the reported findings and provides suggestions for future research.
Results
Bodies involved with safe ICT use in Greece
The following brief description regarding the public and private bodies concerned with safe ICT use in Greece presents published information and research results on cyber-bullying. It must be noted though that the description is indicative and not exhaustive.
A programme designed to empower and protect youth through awareness-raising is the Safer Internet Programme, which is an active project among 29 European countries and Russia. The programme is implemented in Greece through the Greek Safer Internet Centre with the co-financing of the European Commission, and it consists of three axes: The first, Saferinternet, is an awareness centre purported to raise public awareness and to provide reliable information and supportive material to youngsters, their parents and teachers regarding safe use of online technologies. The Centre realises a series of dissemination actions, including the production of awareness material and the issue of bimonthly newsletters. The second axe, Safeline.gr, is the hotline for reporting illegal content and conduct on the Internet which violates children's rights such as grooming and cyber-bullying (Saferinternet, Citation2010a). Safeline receives reports from both adults and youth, with the latter being much more sparse. For instance, for the years 2009 and 2010, a large number of calls regarding Internet-related threats and dangers have been received, but only a trivial percentage of them were from youth. Of those, 42.7% were related to safe Internet use in general, 34% to Internet addiction matters and only 4.7% concerned with Internet violence and cyber-bullying (Saferinternet, Citation2010b). Safeline is a full member of INHOPE, the International Association for Internet Hotlines, and is in direct collaboration with the Greek police. Finally, the third axe, YpoSTIRIZO,Footnote1 is a helpline specifically designed to offer support to children, teenagers and their parents in cases of harmful content and conduct (Saferinternet, Citation2010a).
Among other bodies founded within the operational programme for the information society were the Information Technology Committee (ITC) and the Special Secretariat of Digital Planning (DART). The ITC is the institutional body responsible for shaping public opinion regarding the application of new technologies in the financial and public administration, and is comprised of representatives of the state, the public and the private sector as well as citizen representatives (Tsaliki, Citation2009). DART's primary goal is to act as the hub between various public authorities, agencies and the users, by directing them to the most appropriate entity if further actions were necessary. Also, in relation to the online risk, the National Research and Technology Network, the Institute of Technology and Computers and the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute were founded.
The intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology, in which Greece participates, has also an action on cyber-bullying. Its purpose is to coordinate the nationally funded research regarding the phenomenon on a European level, by funding a range of networking and dissemination opportunities. The EU Kids Online programme, a thematic network funded by the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme, has a similar goal since it aims to identify, compare and draw conclusions from existing and ongoing research on children and online technologies conducted in Europe (CitationEU Kids Online, n.d.).
To our knowledge, other bodies that have been involved in ICT's safe use are The Children's Ombudsman, which initiated a programme for safe Internet use, The Smile of the Child (i.e. a non-profit volunteering organisation for defending the children's rights), which has a unit that aims at providing information to students, parents and teachers regarding positive and negative use of technologies, and the aforementioned Adolescent Health Unit of the Pediatric University Hospital of the University of Athens, which apart from its participation in national research projects, has also issued informative pamphlets for Internet addiction issues [for a more comprehensive report on related bodies in Greece, see Tsaliki (Citation2009)].
In terms of intervention, a new unit was formed during the last years within the Hellenic Police, the Cybercrime Unit, which is responsible to enforce the law in the case of Internet crimes. The Unit collaborates with several organisations such as the Interpol, Europol, NGOs as well as national hotlines representatives. According to data provided by the Unit, most common cyber-crime reports involve the use of social network sites and concern denigration, bullying and personal data violation, while many young people come in touch with the officers (CitationHellenic Police, n.d.).
Published research on cyber-bullying in Greece
The literature review regarding the existing research on cyber-bullying experiences among Greek youth yielded 15 studies published between 2005 and 2012 (for an executive summary of the studies' details, see Table ). For organisation purposes, studies are presented in chronological order. At the end of the section, evidence is being presented from studies that, to the best of our knowledge, have not been published in peer-reviewed journals but have been published elsewhere (i.e. websites).
Table 1 Published studies on cyber-bullying in Greece.
To the best of our knowledge, the first study on cyber-bullying in Greece, as reported by Sygkollitou, Psalti, and Kapatzia (Citation2010), was conducted on behalf of the European Action SAFE NET HOME in 2005, and participants were 450 students who were asked to report their cyber-bullying experiences. According to the results, an astounding percentage of 54% of the participants had been cyber-victimised, while more than 50% knew someone who had been cyber-bullied. It is important to note that more than 40% of the participants claimed not knowing their perpetrator, verifying that anonymity is a great factor in cyber-bullying incidents.
In 2008, Kapatzia and Sygkollitou published a study regarding cyber-bullying among 544 high school students from the area of Thessaloniki, aged between 16 and 19, using the ‘Cyber-bullying Questionnaire’ (Smith et al., 2006). Results showed that cyber-victimisation was higher than traditional victimisation, whereas cyber and traditional bullying rates were similar. Cyber-victimisation was self-reported by 20.5% of the sample, with 14.7% of the victims having rarely faced such behaviours (once or twice a month), while the cyber-bullying percentage was 15.2%, again with 8.6% being rare incidents. Boys were more likely to participate in cyber-bullying incidences with the use of cell phones, while girls with the use of the Internet. Victims of cyber-bullying reported that they had admitted their experience mainly to their friends, but they were hesitant of making any revelations to their parents and teachers. Again, most of the students claimed that they knew someone who had suffered cyber-bullying, thus indicating a high awareness rate among youngsters. Similar to previous studies, the most common reply regarding the identity of the perpetrator was ‘I do not know’, followed by ‘mainly by one boy’ (in the case of cell phone bullying) and ‘by several boys’ (in the case of Internet bullying).
In the same year, the Committee of Social Policy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Gountsidou, 2008, in Sygkollitou et al., Citation2010) conducted a research among 194 freshmen University students from the same university. The purpose of the study was to investigate the use of Facebook among University students and any cyber-bullying experiences they might have experienced through it. Participation was voluntary and students anonymously completed the ‘Cyber-bullying Questionnaire’ (Smith et al., 2006). According to the results, the frequency of cyber-victimisation was low (6% ‘once or twice a year’ and 2% ‘once or twice a month’), whereas only 1% of the participants admitted having cyber-bullied someone ‘once a year’. Female students were more likely to be cyber-victims, whereas males, cyber-bullies. The most common means of cyber-bullying were chat rooms, social network sites and instant messaging services.
It is worth noting that both previous studies considered as cyber-bullying incidences that occurred only ‘once or twice a year’, an issue which raises the questions as to whether cyber-bullying is similar to traditional bullying, and if only frequently occurring behaviours should be characterised as cyber-bullying. According to a literature review conducted by Wolak, Mitchell, and Finkelhor (Citation2007), much of the research on cyber-bullying indeed concerns behaviours that have occurred only once, that are not annoying to the victims and that take place between participants of equal strength.
The frequency of cyber-bullying was estimated as considerably low in a study conducted in 2007 by the Adolescent Health Unit of the University of Athens. Nine hundred adolescents with a mean age of 15 years participated in this research, and according to the results, 4.2% of them admitted having been cyber-bullied and having received threatening or offensive messages (in Tripodaki et al., Citation2008). Another survey was conducted by the same unit in 2008, in an adolescent sample from Athens, investigating Internet use and related abusive behaviours with relation to the participants' psychological profile. In total, 5.8% of the 315 participating high school students were victims of what was defined as cyber-bullying in that survey (in Tripodaki et al., Citation2008).
The apparent discrepancy in the prevalence of cyber-bullying incidences between the studies could be attributed to a series of factors, among which the dearth of a common definition for a social phenomenon which has recently emerged and has not yet been thoroughly investigated. The used research instruments is another important factor, since it has been observed that most studies on cyber-bullying conducted in Greece use self-assessment questionnaires that have been specifically designed for the purposes of each study and, in some cases, have not been tested for their psychometric adequacy. Therefore, the comparison of the findings becomes rather difficult.
Evidence regarding the phenomenon is also provided by studies for which bullying was not the main topic of the investigation. For example, Siomos and his colleagues (in Fisoun, Citation2011) conducted a large-scale study in the island of Kos in 2009, which was purported to investigate the factors related to Internet addiction among adolescents. The study was conducted in a sample of 1,221 adolescents, aged between 15 and 18 years, who, among other things, were asked to answer a few questions regarding cyber-bullying. The questionnaire used for this purpose was constructed by the researchers, and according to the results, 14.5% of the students had been victims of cyber-bullying. A follow-up assessment in 2011 indicated that cyber-victimisation increased up to 28.3%, while 14.6% of the students admitted having cyber-bullied others.
The low incidence of cyber-bullying in Greece until 2008 is also mentioned in the report that was prepared for the EU Kids Online thematic network, according to which Greece was classified among the ‘non-high degree of online risk’ countries, a fact which was attributed to the low national ICT penetration (Hasebrink et al., Citation2008). The report underlines that at that time, children's online risks remained a seriously under-researched area. In her article, the Greek representative of EU Kids Online notes that Greek parents' biggest fear regarding their children's Internet use is that they will encounter pornographic material, and that they will become cyber-bullying victims. According to the same research, parents fear that they are unable to react to these threats, while only 1 in 4 uses protective software (Tsaliki & Chronaki, Citation2010).
Overall, studies published until 2009 provide evidence from initial and exploratory investigations of cyber-bullying experiences among Greek youth. After this time, a gradual shift is observed ranging from the investigation of the prevalence of the phenomenon to more theoretically based investigations, e.g. regarding the correlates of this online behaviour.
In 2012, an edited book titled Cyber-bullying in Greece: An Interdisciplinary Approach describes the results of a European-wide research project titled ‘Cyber-bullying in adolescence: Investigation and intervention in six European countries’ which was funded by the European commission, under the programme Daphne III. Two new empirical studies regarding cyber-bullying among Greek adolescents are published in that book.
The first by Tsorbatzoudis and Angelakopoulos (Citation2012) reports findings regarding the most prevalent cyber-bullying forms among Greek adolescent students and the context in which these are most likely to occur. Overall, 997 secondary school students from different regions of Greece participated in the study, and were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire regarding their cyber-bullying/victimisation experiences. The questionnaire was derived from a previous Daphne project, while a few new questions were added. Results indicated that 10% of the students had experienced a cyber-bullying incident, mainly through insulting and offensive messages, having rumours being spread about them, being attacked or insulted in an online game setting, or experiencing attacks to their personal information. A significant percentage of participants (34%) reported that these actions originated from their friendly environment and were meant as joking, thus excluding them from what has been defined as cyber-bullying.
The second study supported by the Daphne III programme aimed at investigating differences and similarities between face-to-face bullying and cyber-bullying in terms of empathy and social cognitions (attitudes, social norms, risk prototypes and self-efficacy beliefs) (Lazuras & Ourda, Citation2012). The study employed an integrated model incorporating psychosocial variables derived from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Prototype/Willingness Model. The study included 125 secondary school students from Athens who completed self-report questionnaires. Contrary to the hypothesis, only affective empathy predicted cyber-bullying, an effect that was fully mediated by self-efficacy beliefs, such as situational temptation. Researchers concluded that although empathy plays an important role in the prediction of cyber-bullying involvement, other psychosocial variables such as cognitions and behavioural intentions which mediate the relationship should be thoroughly investigated. They also validated the aforementioned dearth of evidence regarding the profile of cyber-participants and the consequence that long-term cyber-bullying has in their learning, socialisation and psychosomatic well-being. This research was part of a larger scale study funded by the Daphne project that was conducted among 355 adolescents, who attended schools in both Athens and Thessaloniki (Lazouras, Barkoukis, Ourda, & Tsorbatzoudis, Citation2013). Findings indicated that the results from the larger study differed significantly from those of the study that was limited to the 125 subjects, since social norms, prototype similarity and situational self-efficacy all predicted cyber-bullying expectations, while normative influences mediated the effects of moral disengagement and affective empathy on cyber-bullying expectations. The discrepancy in the findings of the two studies indicates the differentiating role of the participants' characteristics, possibly being attributed to different geographic regions.
The profile of adolescents and young adults participating in cyber-bullying/victimisation incidences is also investigated in three recent, yet unpublished, studies. Kokkinos, Antoniadou, Dalara, Koufogazou, and Papatziki (Citation2013) examined the relationship between cyber-bullying/victimisation experiences and preadolescent students' characteristics, namely big five personality traits and coping strategies. The research was conducted among 300 elementary school students, with the use of self-report questionnaires. According to the findings, cyber-bully/victims reported low agreeableness and conscientiousness and high neuroticism scores, whereas they tended to use maladaptive coping strategies such as aggression, resignation and passive avoidance. Regression analyses indicated that cyber-bullying was predicted by male gender, low consciousness and maladaptive coping and that cyber-victimisation by the use of aggression, passive avoidance and situation control coping.
Another study by Kokkinos and Antoniadou (Citation2013a) investigated cyber-bullying experiences in a broader age group (10–18-year-old students), in order to examine potential age differences. The study aimed at investigating possible common correlates between cyber- and traditional bullying, by examining a number of interpersonal characteristics. In addition, the study examined the relative contribution of the psychosocial variables in predicting bullying and victimisation experiences (both cyber and traditional) using regression analyses. Overall, 429 students took part in the study by completing a self-report questionnaire, measuring cyber- and traditional bullying/victimisation experiences and a number of measures on Internet disinhibition, sensation seeking, psychopathic traits, cognitive and affective empathy, social skills, self-esteem and peer relations as well as attachment style. Results indicated a significant overlap between cyber- and traditional bullying, while regression analysis indicated several similar intra-individual characteristics predicting cyber- and traditional bullying (e.g. lack of cooperation and sensation seeking traits), but different predictors for cyber- and traditional victimisation.
The third study investigated the psychological profile of young adult cyber-bullying participants (Kokkinos & Antoniadou, Citation2013b) in a sample of 430 students from four University departments in Greece. Results indicated that 58.4% of the sample had participated in a cyber-bullying incident assuming any role, with only a low percentage of high-frequency participation. Cyber-bully/victims, the most common participant role, scored significantly higher on anxiety, depression, hostility and interpersonal sensitivity symptoms and on all psychopathic traits, whereas bullies had significantly higher scores on boredom susceptibility. Both cyber-bullying and cyber-victimisation were significantly predicted by gender, depression, grandiosity and callousness–unemotionality, in addition to insecure attachment for cyber-bullying only. The study concludes that cyber-bullying is associated with psychopathic personality characteristics of those involved, especially for bully/victims.
In terms of those research reports published on the Internet, in 2009, a Greek NGO named ‘NEOI’Footnote2 reported in various websites linked to that organisation, the results of a study conducted with 422 students (13–18 years old) from the area of Thessaloniki regarding cyber-bullying. According to the findings, 16% of the boys had been cyber-victimised through Social Network Sites, 10% of boys cyber-bullied others, while 22% of girls had been cyber-victimised. Nevertheless, the study was never formally published in a peer-reviewed journal, while the methodology was not described in detail. In 2010, the same NGO conducted another research regarding harassment and privacy in social networking sites, among 2176 participants aged 13 and over, 25% of whom claimed that they had received harassment through the Internet; still however, to the best of our knowledge, this study remains unpublished.
Cyber-bullying research presented in scientific meetings
Overall, during the recent years, cyber-bullying has gradually become a topic of research investigation in Greece. This is evident by the increasing number of thematic sessions devoted to cyber-bullying in national conferences and meetings of psychology, education and new technologies. To our knowledge, the first meeting dedicated to safe Internet use was held by Saferinternet on 2006 in Athens, and since then, several meetings and conferences have included topics related to cyber-bullying. Unfortunately, tracking all the meetings and conferences that have included presentations on cyber-bullying is a demanding venture, which cannot be easily accomplished due to the frequent absence of online indexing of these events. Therefore, the exhaustive review of all the conference and meeting presentations regarding cyber-bullying in Greece is beyond the scope of this paper.
However, a brief reference will be made to the conferences that have been organised during the last few years by the Hellenic Association for the Study of Internet Addiction Disorder (HASIAD). The organisation mainly studies Internet addiction in all ages, but its conferences have been encompassing all Internet-related behaviours (economic and legal aspects, harassment and exploitation through the Internet and other problematic behaviours), with a special interest on the effects of Internet use on children and adolescents.
During its first meeting in 2009, only two presentations were related to cyber-bullying; the first was an introduction to the phenomenon, based on European data (Gountsidou, Citation2009), while the second was a study conducted among 225 high school students in three big cities of Greece (Andreou, Zafeiropoulou, Garagouni-Araiou, & Roussi-Vergou, Citation2009). According to the results of the latter, 22.4% of the total sample were victims of cyber-bullying and 18.3% bullies, while students reported that the most common cyber-bullying mean was the cell phone, followed by email and social network sites. Boys were more frequently both victims and perpetrators of cyber-bullying. More than one-third of the students reported knowing someone who had been cyber-victimised, while victims claim that the actions were usually conducted by an unknown bully.
Interestingly, the thematic sessions related to cyber-bullying were at least tripled in the second organisation of the meeting in 2011, a drift indicating an increase in public awareness and in academics' research interest.
Presented in alphabetical order, Adamopoulou's (Citation2011) study, concerning 139 University students' opinion regarding cyber-bullying, found that participants overall considered their related knowledge inadequate. Avdelidou, Stavropoulos, and Motti-Stefanidi (Citation2011) investigated risk factors for cyber-bullying, among 463 students aged 14–23, and according to their results, peer rejection predicted victimisation, and this was especially true for boys. Akoumianaki and Mpaka (Citation2011) used a qualitative content analysis of 69 Greek newspaper articles, in order to investigate the depiction of cyber-bullying in the Greek press, which, according to the study, tends to present the Internet as good and promoting for youngsters, but the prospect of experiencing cyber-bullying renders it dangerous for children. At the same meeting, Mpoukouvala, Rousi-Vergou, and Andreou (Citation2011) presented the legal actions against cyber-bullying, while Koroni and Zafeiropoulou (Citation2011) presented the most common cyber-bullying incidents reported to the police force, as well as information regarding the reporting procedure, and tips for prevention and safety. Malama and Koliadis (Citation2011) investigated the attitudes and views of primary and secondary teachers on cyber-bullying by conducting a research among 113 primary and 100 secondary teachers, who, according to the results, thought that they do not have enough education and training on the issue. Finally, Spiropoulos (Citation2011) discussed his considerations regarding the new phenomenon and reviewed intervention practices in the EU. The conference also included workshops regarding cyber-bullying prevention and intervention, European studies on cyber-bullying and reviews regarding the phenomenon (e.g. Gountsidou, Citation2011).
Most recently, another two papers regarding cyber-bullying were presented during the 13th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA), which took place on the island of Spetses, Greece. The first paper entitled ‘How do adolescents react to cyber-bullying incidents’ (Kapatzia & Sygkolitou, Citation2012) investigated adolescents' reactions to cyber-bullying incidents using both quantitative and qualitative data. Students attending elementary schools in Thessaloniki participated in the study, which was conducted in two consequential phases: during the first phase, all students (1183) were asked to complete anonymous questionnaires, while in the second phase focus group interviews were conducted in selected schools (100 students). Findings suggested that cyber-bullying evokes negative feelings such as anger, anxiety, aggression and indifference depending on the participant role, while students were found to use retaliation as a strategy to cope with cyber-bullying.
The second presentation (Koniari & Goudiras, Citation2012) investigated cyber-bullying among 229 secondary school students and their differences in terms of the area they live (urban, suburban and rural), gender, age and school performance, but no further information was available at the conference book of abstracts.
Conclusions
This review indicates that cyber-bullying is an existing phenomenon in Greece, and this is apparent from both the self-reported prevalence of the incidences and the high percentage of awareness regarding peer participation. Similarly, studies in other countries indicate that a prevalence of the incidences that varies significantly (from 2% to 54%) and is, to a great extent, subjected to the operational definition of the construct being measured. Cyber-bullying may be less prevalent than, or equal to, traditional bullying (Kapatzia & Sygkollitou, Citation2008), but research evidence suggests an overlap between the two (Kokkinos & Antoniadou, Citation2013b). In terms of demographic characteristics, gender is differentiating cyber-bullying participation, with girls being victimised through the Internet more frequently, while in terms of age, limited research suggests that cyber-bullying may be more prevalent during high school and decline in University years, though more research is needed to this direction. Greek youth seem to follow western countries' technological trends and have made a swift from email and IM communication to interaction through social network sites. Existing evidence seem to confirm the association between cyber-bullying and several personal characteristics (i.e. low empathy, maladaptive coping strategies and normative beliefs), but more systematic research is needed to verify such circumstantial evidence.
Mainly, this review denotes that Greece is still at an initial stage of research regarding cyber-bullying experiences among youth. Up to date, most of the data come from studies that do not focus exclusively on cyber-bullying or studies that are conducted with small opportunistic samples, in limited geographical regions. Studies usually concern adolescents and not pre-adolescents who should be the main focus of the investigation, since they are the age group that is being raised with ICTs and could therefore be affected the most (Hasebrink et al., Citation2008). Furthermore, a great deal of the reported research is only descriptive in nature, but more recent attempts seem to be advancing at this direction by increasingly providing more in-depth data.
Until recently, most of the data regarding cyber-bullying in Greece were provided by national and European bodies, whereas some research studies have been led by European programmes and less often by academic institutes. Another important issue relates to the dissemination of the research evidence, since much of the reported research has not been published in scientific journals and is not therefore easily accessible, while in some cases has not been peer reviewed and is informally published (i.e. websites). Despite the country's delayed initiation on cyber-bullying research, admittedly, notable efforts and great leaps have been taken during the last years, but undoubtedly, more research is still needed.
Although a number of awareness programmes and related material is available, no pertinent data have leaded to their development. Most programmes are designed after other European programmes, but unquestionably, for an intervention programme to be effective, it needs to be tailored to the needs of the specific country. Therefore, there is an apparent need for an in-depth investigation on a national level, which will provide researchers with evidence regarding the role of a number of intra-, inter-personal and contextual variables in the manifestation of cyber-bullying, which will evidently assist in the development and application of prevention and intervention programmes.
The findings of this review denote the need to obtain a more lucid picture regarding the prevalence of cyber-bullying, its most frequently observed forms, types and the used means, potential differences among different groups (e.g. age, geographical region and socio-economic status), data regarding the psychosocial profile of the participants, and the relationship between cyber-bullying participation and a number of personal and contextual parameters. Future research could benefit from larger scale studies, longitudinal in nature, using a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Finally, it is important to underline the differences between traditional and cyber-bullying and other types of online aggression, so that it can be determined whether cyber-bullying is just another type of traditional bullying executed by different means or constitutes a distinct type of aggression that requires another approach in terms of prevention and intervention.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Nafsika Antoniadou
Constantinos M. Kokkinos is an associate professor of educational psychology at the Department of Primary Education, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. His research interests include children's disruptive and antisocial behaviours, classroom psychosocial climate, psychological assessment, and teachers' stress and burnout.
Constantinos M. Kokkinos
Nafsika Antoniadou, MEd (School Pedagogy, Diversity in Education), is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Primary Education, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. Her research interests include the study of cyberbullying, and traditional bullying/victimization among children with and without special educational needs.
Notes
1. Literally meaning support in Greek.
2. Literally meaning youth in Greek.
Related Research Data
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