Reactions of adolescent cyber bystanders toward different victims of cyberbullying: the role of parental rearing behaviors

Abstract

Background: Group-based situations are common settings for cyberbullying, making bystander responses crucial in combating this issue. This study investigated how adolescent bystanders respond to various victims, including family members, friends, teachers, and celebrities. This study also examined how different parenting styles influenced children’s cyber bystander involvement. Methods: This study employed data from a cross-sectional school survey covering 1,716 adolescents aged 13–18 years from public and vocational schools in China collected in 2022. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to measure demographic characteristics, cyberbullying experiences, and parental rearing behaviors in predicting bystander reactions. Results: The findings showed that middle school students preferred to “ask for help” while high school students tended to choose “call the police” when witnessing cyberbullying incidents. Bystanders growing up with parental rejection and overprotection, having previous cyberbullying victimization experiences, where the victims were disliked by them, exhibited fewer defensive reactions. Conclusions: This study has implications for future research and practices involving parental involvement in cyber bystander interventions, which could provide implications for future practice in designing specific intervention programs for cyberbullying bystander behavior. Future research and interventions against cyberbullying may provide individualized training including parents’ positive parenting skills and parent-child interactions.