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Original research
Bystanders’ behaviours and associated factors in cyberbullying
  1. Jidapa Panumaporn1,
  2. Sirichai Hongsanguansri2,
  3. Wanlop Atsariyasing3 and
  4. Komsan Kiatrungrit2
  1. 1 Master of Science Program in Child, Adolescent and Family Psychology, Affiliate Program Between Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital and National Institute for Child and Family Development, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
  2. 2 Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
  3. 3 Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
  1. Correspondence to Dr Komsan Kiatrungrit; komsan.kei{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Background Cyberbullying is presently an alarming problem worldwide due to its impact on the emotions, behaviour and psychological well-being of not only the victims, but the bullies themselves and also bystanders.

Aim This study aims to investigate bystanders’ behaviours in cyberbullying and associated factors.

Methods This research is a cross-sectional study of 578 secondary school students in Bangkok, Thailand. Simple random sampling was used to select four secondary schools. Data were collected through online questionnaires which included four sections: (1) demographic data, (2) bystanders’ behaviour in cyberbullying (cyberbullying experience and attitude towards cyberbullying were included in this section), (3) parental attachment (Inventory of Parent Attachment-Revised), and (4) self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale-Revised).

Results It was found that most occurrences of bystanders’ behaviour were: (a) willing to intervene or help victims (34.6%), (b) ignoring the cyberbullying (28%) or (c) partaking in cyberbullying (26.3%). Participants who either were victims of cyberbullying or knew of cyberbullying happening to friends or relatives and had high parental attachment would intervene more than those who never had such experiences. Participants who knew of cyberbullying happening to the general public had tendencies towards ignoring the cyberbullying. Participants who indicated they were bullies and had positive attitude towards joining in tended to partake in the cyberbullying more than those who were not.

Conclusion Factors relating to the behaviours of bystanders in cyberbullying should be further explored to provide support in the discouragement of ignoring and averting participation in cyberbullying. Secure parental attachment is one important factor that should be instilled during childhood years.

  • adolescent behavior
  • association
  • behaviour and behaviour mechanisms
  • family relations
  • mental health
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2019-100187

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors JP and KK analysed and interpreted the data, and drafted and critically revised the manuscript. JP, SH, WA and KK conceived and designed the study and acquired the data; and read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data availability statement All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article (and/or) its supplementary materials.