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Cited by 175Bullying, Victimization, and AggressionImpact of Technology on AdolescentsWorkplace Violence and Bullying

Cyberbullying and adolescent well-being in England: a population-based cross-sectional study

Przybylski, Andrew K, Bowes, Lucy·2017·The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
DOI 10.1016/s2352-4642(17)30011-1
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Abstract

Background Bullying is a major public health problem. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of cyberbullying and traditional bullying among adolescents in England, and assess its relative effects on mental well-being.Methods In this population-based study, we analysed data from a nationally representative cross-sectional study, What About Youth, which enrolled a random sample of 298 080 school pupils drawn from 564 886 National Pupil Database records of adolescents aged 15 years, living in England, with matching postcode and local authority data, to complete self-report surveys between Sept 22, 2014, and Jan 9, 2015. Mental well-being, defined as life satisfaction, fulfilling social relationships, purpose in life, and a subjective sense of flourishing, was assessed using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and was compared between those adolescents who reported traditional bullying (including physical, verbal, and relational bullying) or cyberbullying 2-3 times a month or more compared with those adolescents who reported traditional bullying and cyberbullying once or twice in the past couple of months or less. Traditional bullying was defined as repeated, intentional aggression that is targeted at a person who cannot easily defend himself or herself; cyberbullying was additionally defined as taking place in an electronic context (eg, e-mail, blogs, instant messages, text messages).Findings 120 115 eligible adolescents completed questionnaires, of whom 110 788 adolescents completed measures of bullying. 33 363 (adjusted: 30% total, 20 668 girls [36%], 12 695 [24%] boys) reported any form of regular bullying in the past couple of months. 29 302 (27% total, 17 745 [31%] girls, 11 557 [24%] boys) reported physical, verbal, and relational (ie, traditional) bullying only, while 406 (<1% total, 276 [<1%] girls, 130 [<1%] boys,) reported only cyberbullying, and 3655 (3% total, 2647 [5%] girls, 1008 [2%] boys) reported both traditional and cyberbullying. Both kinds of victimisation were related to poorer mental well-being (adjusted analyses, traditional: b coefficient=-1·99 (SE 0·001); cyberbullying: b coefficient=-0·86 (0·06). Cybervictimisation accounted for less than 0·1% of observed variability in mental well-being compared with 5·0% of variability accounted for by traditional victimisation.Interpretation Traditional bullying is considerably more common among adolescents in England than cyberbullying. While both forms of bullying were associated with poorer mental well-being, cyberbullying accounted for a very small share of variance after adjustment for offline bullying and other covariates.Funding None.

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  • Individuals who have been victimised in person are more likely to be victimised or bullied online.

    “Some studies have supported the rich-get-richer view of online communication (ie, those who already have strong offline friendships might benefit most from digital interaction), whereas those with a liability to mental health issues might be more susceptible to the negative effects78 (eg, those who have been victimised in person are more likely to be victimised or bullied online).79”

    From The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health (2020) · cites this paper as [79]

  • Very few young people experience bullying exclusively via social media platforms.

    “Whilst this is an important area of research linking users' experiences of social media to mental health outcomes, it should be noted that very few young people experience bullying exclusively via social media platforms”

    From Understanding Links Between Social Media Use, Sleep and Mental Health: Recent Progress and Current Challenges (2019) · cites this paper as [55]

  • Effect sizes for poor mental health associations are similar for cyberbullying and offline physical and relational bullying.

    “and effect sizes for poor mental health associations are similar for cyberbullying and offline physical and relational bullying [53,55].”

    From Understanding Links Between Social Media Use, Sleep and Mental Health: Recent Progress and Current Challenges (2019) · cites this paper as [55]

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Authors
Przybylski, A. K., & Bowes, L.
Affiliations
University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author
Przybylski, Andrew K
ORCID
Venue
The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-09
Volume
1
Issue
1
Pages
19-26
ISSN
2352-4642 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s2352-4642(17)30011-1
OpenAlex
W2735597729
Cited by
175
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 2
FWCI
27.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Workplace Violence and Bullying
Keywords
cyberbullying, traditional bullying, adolescent psychological well-being, bullying prevalence, life satisfaction, interpersonal relationships, meaning of life, eudaimonia, gender differences, school pupils, England, National Pupil Database, victimization, school-based prevention, mental health services for adolescents

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