The traditional bullying in schools and young people’s groups that is typical for periods of childhood and adolescence is often supported or changed with cyber-bullying today. The problem of cyber-bullying became actively discussed only recently, when adolescents’ suicides caused by this social phenomenon attracted the public attention. The existing scholarly literature on the topic actively discusses the difference between cyber-bullying and face-to-face bullying. There are many pieces of research and surveys on the use of intervention programs to decrease the rates of cyber-bullying in the educational institutions’ settings. Researchers have also paid much attention to the relationship between cyber-bullying and depression rates amongst young persons. The detailed examination of this literature is important in order to find answers to the following research question: Are young people who are cyber-bullied at a higher risk for suicide than young ones who are bullied face-to-face?
Carpenter, L. M., & Hubbard, G. B. (2014). Cyberbullying: Implications for the psychiatric nurse practitioner. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 27(3), 142-148.
Carpenter and Hubbard focused on discussing cyber-bullying as a new form of bullying that has a threat of developing significant psychiatric symptoms in adolescents. The researchers presented the recent statistics in order to illustrate the negative social and psychological effects of cyber-bullying in contrast to the traditional bullying in schools. They also accentuated the data on the rates of suicide attempts among those adolescents who suffered from cyber-bullying and experienced difficulties in communicating with peers. The reference to this article is important for the analysis of such adverse effects of cyber-bullying as suicide attempts in comparison with the social and mental effects of the traditional bullying on adolescents.
Cross, D., Shaw, T., Hadwen, K., Cardoso, P., Slee, P., Roberts, C.,… & Barnes, A. (2015). Longitudinal impact of the Cyber Friendly Schools program on adolescents’ cyberbullying behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 9(9), 1-15. Web.
In their article, Cross and the group of researchers presented the results of the practice of integrating the Cyber Friendly Schools program in the Australian schools. The implemented program was oriented to decrease the percentage of cyber-bullying cases in schools. The researchers examined the students’ experiences after implementing the program during the period of 2010-2012, and they found that the prevention program worked to reduce the cases of cyber-bullying in schools significantly. However, the positive effect was decreased with references to the teachers’ inability to integrate the program completely along with traditional practices oriented to the bullying prevention. This article discusses cyber-bullying as an important social problem, and the evidence presented in the study is significant in order to analyze the spread of cyber-bullying in schools and its impact on students with the focus on their reported experiences.
Na, H., Dancy, B. L., & Park, C. (2015). College student engaging in cyberbullying victimization: Cognitive appraisals, coping strategies, and psychological adjustments. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 29(3), 155-161.
The article allows understanding how cyber-bullying and victimization can cause the depressive state and suicidal thoughts in young people. Na, Dancy, and Park completed the study on the question of students’ appraisal of such forms of bullying as cyber-bullying in the college settings and on their personal responses to the cases of cyber-bullying. It was found with the help of using questionnaires that victims of cyber-bullying suffered from significant levels of depression. These symptoms were observed especially when cyber-bullying was public and supported by other students. These students were inclined to develop coping strategies, and if these strategies were weak, the bullied persons often had suicidal thoughts. This article is a useful source in order to discuss how cyber-bullying is perceived by students differently, and what strategies they can use in order to adapt to cyber-bullying in comparison to the traditional form of bullying that can be discussed as rarely resulting in such consequences as suicidal thoughts.
Perren, S., Dooley, J., Shaw, T., & Cross, D. (2010). Bullying in school and cyberspace: Associations with depressive symptoms in Swiss and Australian adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 4(28), 1-10.
This article answers the question whether or not adolescents who are bullied during face-to-face contacts or cyber-bullied while using mobile phones and computers have a higher risk for the development of depression. The researchers used a questionnaire in order to assess the young people’s perceptions regarding their bullying experiences. It was found that those students who were bullied face-to-face or cyber-bullied were inclined to demonstrate severe depressive symptoms. Moreover, the level of depression in cyber-bullied individuals was even higher than in other bullied persons. This article is directly focused on the P.I.C.O question used for the research because it explains whether cyber-bullied adolescents suffer from depression oftener than traditionally bullied students. It is important to refer to the authors’ ideas associated with their statements that depression caused by cyber-bullying can lead to suicidal ideations and even to the suicide.
Sticca, F., & Perren, S. (2013). Is cyberbullying worse than traditional bullying? Examining the differential roles of medium, publicity, and anonymity for the perceived severity of bullying. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(5), 739-750.
In their research, Sticca and Perren addressed the question of differences between cyber-bullying and traditional bullying directly. In order to investigate how cyber-bullying can be perceived as worse than traditional bullying, the researchers determined the criteria for the comparison: the used medium; the associated publicity; and the level of anonymity. It was found that adolescents are inclined to discuss the worse type of bullying with the focus on the public character of the possible harassment and on the level of anonymity, when the control over the bully is minimal. This article is important for the current research because it directly analyzes the difference between cyber-bullying and traditional bullying. While referring to the comparison of the factors in this article, it is important to examine the higher impact of cyber-bullying on young people in contrast to the traditional bullying.
Williams, S. G., & Godfrey, A. J. (2011). What is cyberbullying and how can psychiatric-mental health nurses recognize it. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 49(10), 36-41.
In their article, Williams and Godfrey discussed how the modern cyber-bullying is different from the traditional bullying and what negative mental and social consequences can be associated with cyber-bullying. The researchers considered those adolescents who actively use electronic devices as the risk group, and they determined typical mental and physical consequences of being cyber-bullied. Much attention was paid to the problem of suicide as an adolescents’ response to cyber-bullying in the peer group. The article is helpful because it discusses the differences between cyber-bullying and traditional bullying in the context of the nursing practice. In addition, the authors provided the discussion of the risk of suicide in the context of adolescents’ mental problems.