Happiness and depression in the traditionally bullied and cyberbullied 12-year-old

Abstract

This study investigated the overall happiness, school-related happiness, and depression of traditionally bullied and cyberbullied 12-year-old Finnish students. Among the more than 700 participants, traditional bullying (26%) was more frequent than cyberbullying (18%). Receiving insulting text messages or being the subject of offensive comments on the Internet were the most common forms of cyberbullying. Often those who were cyberbullied were also victims of traditional bullying (the poly-victimized comprised 11% of all participants). We found no differences between genders in traditional bullying rates, but cyberbullying was more common among girls. Being victimized, in either form, was related to a decrease in all measures of psychological well-being, with the poly-victimized scoring the lowest. In particular, being victimized predicted depression, with the poly-victimized scoring the highest. The results indicate a clear need to intervene in early adolescents’ culture of communicating via electronic devices and especially to identify victims of bullying in both the real and cyberworld.