Traditional and Online Bullying Victimization Among School-going Adolescents: The Role of Sociodemographic Factors

Abstract

Background: Bullying in school is a vital issue as researchers increasingly find that it can be detrimental to students’ well-being and academic excellence. From an ecological systems theory perspective, examining school bullying reveals that numerous psychosocial factors influence student behavior. Hence, the present study aims to investigate the role of sociodemographics—at the individual (age, gender), microsystem and mesosystem (grade level, school type), exosystem (region), macrosystem (socioeconomic status), and chronosystem (shift from traditional to virtual classroom during COVID-19) levels—in the victimization of traditional and online bullying. Methods: After obtaining ethical clearance, an online survey form was deployed to collect sociodemographic information and assess traditional and online bullying victimization among 120 school-going adolescents from the Southern regions of India. Results: A linear regression analysis showed age and region (urban and rural) predicting traditional and online victimization, respectively. Other sociodemographic factors of gender, school type, and grade level did not predict either victimization type. Conclusions: Sociodemographic factors play a significant role in the victimization experiences of students both in traditional and online.