Bullying

Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 226–232

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The changing face of bullying: An empirical comparison between traditional and internet bullying and victimization
Danielle M. Law a,⇑, Jennifer D. Shapka a, Shelley Hymel a, Brent F. Olson a, Terry Waterhouse b a b

Faculty of Education, The University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4 Criminology and Criminal Justice, The University of the Fraser Valley, 33844 King Road, Abbotsford, British Columbia , Canada V2S 7M8

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Electronic aggression, or cyberbullying, is a relatively new phenomenon. As such, consistency in how the construct is defined and operationalized has not yet been achieved, inhibiting a thorough understanding of the construct and how it relates to developmental outcomes. In a series of two studies, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFAs and CFAs respectively) were used to examine whether electronic aggression can be measured using items similar to that used for measuring traditional bullying, and whether adolescents respond to questions about electronic aggression in the same way they do for traditional bullying. For Study I (n = 17 551; 49% female), adolescents in grades 8–12 were asked to what extent they had experience with physical, verbal, social, and cyberbullying as a bully and victim. EFA and CFA results revealed that adolescents distinguished between the roles they play (bully, victim) in a bullying situation but not forms of bullying (physical, verbal, social, cyber). To examine this further, Study II (n = 733; 62% female), asked adolescents between the ages of 11 and 18 to respond to questions about their experience sending (bully), receiving (victim), and/or seeing (witness) specific online aggressive acts. EFA and CFA results revealed that

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