Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: Measures in Search of a Construct

Introduction: Cyberbullying is a rapidly growing focus of research, but lacks the unifying theoretical framework needed to advance the field. In general, researchers have assumed that cyberbullying constitutes a new form of aggression. Many researchers have assumed “cyberbullies” constitute a distinct group of adolescents. These assumptions have limited theoretical support and have not been empirically tested.  An alternative model is to conceptualize the media through which aggression is perpetrated as a new dimension for classifying aggression. This study tested competing models of aggression. It was hypothesized that form of aggression (i.e., physical, verbal, and relational) would be more salient in explaining relations among aggressive behaviors than media (in-person or electronic). It was also hypothesized that adolescents who perpetrated aggression would not be distinguished by what media they used to perpetrate aggression. Finally, it was hypothesized that a dimensional model would provide a better explanation of aggression than a categorical one.

Method: Participants were 1052 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from three public schools in a medium-sized city in the southeastern United States. The sample was predominantly African American; 15% of participants reported that their ethnicity was Hispanic or Latino. Data were collected in the fall, winter, spring, and summer beginning in 2010. Among other measures, participants completed the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale - Revised, a self-report measure that assessed the extent to which they engaged in physical, verbal, relational, and electronic aggression.

 

Results: A confirmatory factor analysis that took both media and form into account provided the best fitting model to explain adolescent aggression. A latent profile analysis suggested two groups of adolescents: a moderately aggressive class and a low aggressive class. As hypothesized, neither group was distinguishable by the media they used to perpetrate aggression. As hypothesized, a comparison of the confirmatory factor analysis model and the two-class solution of the latent profile analysis indicated that a dimensional model provided the best fit.

 

Conclusions: This study supports a theoretical framework of aggression in which aggression is classified both by form and media. The media through which aggression is perpetrated may be best conceptualized as an additional dimension on which aggression can be classified, rather than cyberbullying as a distinct counterpart to existing forms of aggression. Using this approach will create a theoretical framework for understanding cyberbullying, focus future research, and guide prevention efforts.