Research on adolescents who observe cyberbullying situations

Abstract

Cyberbullying is a reality among adolescents. In this problem we not only have cybervictims and cyberbullies, but also cyberobservers, who play a fundamental role in this problem. The main objective of this research is to find out the prevalence of cyberobservers, see gender and age differences, and relate it to mobile phone and Internet use outside the home. To this end, a cross-sectional study has been carried out using a questionnaire as an information-gathering tool. The sample was selected with stratified random sampling, and at the end consisted of a total of 950 secondary school students, of which 50.4% were boys and with an average age of 13.93 (SD = 1.35). 62.3% had observed at least one of the behaviors assessed during the past year. Women generally observed more behavior than men. In terms of age, older adolescents are the ones who reported having observed the most cyberbullying. Teenagers who have computers in their own rooms or those who have access to the Internet outside the home observed more cyberbullying. Given that cyberbullying occurs in a group process, cyber-observers play a key role in preventing it.