Cyberbullying and its protective and risk factors among Polish adolescents
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Introduction: Cyberbullying has recently attracted attention because of its increasing occurrence and serious consequences for victims. The purpose of the study was to examine the prevalence rates of cyberbullying and the association between cyberbullying and protective/risk factors (cognitive empathy, assertiveness, cooperation, pro-social behaviour, and social support) among Polish adolescents. Material and methods: Participants (822 students, 448 girls and 374 boys, M = 12.97, SD = 1.02) completed a computer-based online questionnaire. Results: The majority of respondents did not experience cyberbullying in the last six months, while a significant group still experienced cyberbullying regularly (28.1%). Engaging in cyberbullying appeared to be even less common: it was reported by 12.3% of respondents. Family and peer social support appeared to be the strongest protective factor against experiencing cyberbullying while assertiveness was a characteristic that makes a person more likely to engage in cyberbullying. Conclusions: The results of our study can serve as guidance for preventive interventions against cyberbullying.
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Adolescents with high levels of assertiveness tend to have a lower risk of abuse or exploitation because they can maintain personal integrity in interpersonal relationships.
“Adolescents with high levels of assertiveness tend to have a lower risk of abuse or exploitation because they can maintain personal integrity in interpersonal relationships (Łosiak-Pilch et al., 2022).”
From Surfing Online Safety: Assertiveness and Parental Involvement in Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Cyber Grooming (2025) · cites this paper as Łosiak-Pilch et al., 2022
The Discussion (page unavailable) suggests that assertive adolescents may appear stronger to peers and provoke less aggression, offering limited support for a lower risk of cyberbullying. It does not address abuse or exploitation generally, or say that maintaining personal integrity is the reason. The Results (Multinomial Logistic Regression Model; page unavailable) also report that greater assertiveness increased the odds for one cyberbullying category. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Cyberbullying: Another main type of bullying?
SLONJE, R., & SMITH, P. K. (2008) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00611.x · Cited by 1,844 · see citing works
Cyberbullying: An Exploratory Analysis of Factors Related to Offending and Victimization
Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2008) · Deviant Behavior · doi:10.1080/01639620701457816 · Cited by 1,497 · see citing works
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“…(Chang et al., 2013; Didden et al., 2009), substance abuse and somatic dysfunctions (Kowalski & Limber, 2013), decreased self-esteem (Didden et al., 2009), suicidal ideation (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010), increased likelihood of self-injury (Schneider et al., 2012) and loneliness (Sa-hin, 2012).”
BackgroundSome Problems with Cyberbullying Research
Olweus, D., & Limber, S. P. (2018) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.04.012 · Cited by 373 · see citing works
Nelson, S. K., Layous, K., Cole, S. W., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2016) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/emo0000178 · Cited by 356 · see citing works
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Hanifah, R., & Wigati, M. (2025) · Bulletin of Counseling and Psychotherapy · doi:10.51214/002025071584000 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Łosiak-Pilch, J., Grygiel, P., Ostafińska-Molik, B., & Wysocka, E.
- Affiliations
- Jagiellonian University (PL)
- Corresponding author
- Łosiak-Pilch, Julia
- Venue
- Current Issues in Personality Psychology
- Publisher
- Termedia Sp. z.o.o.
- Published
- 2022-01-24
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 190-204
- ISSN
- 2353-4192 (ISSN-L)
- 2353-561X
- PMC
- PMC10535628
- OpenAlex
- W4210724712
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 1.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- Locations
- Current Issues in Personality Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Homo Politicus (Academy of Humanities and Economics in Lodz) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection
- Keywords
- cyberbullying, adolescents, protective factors, risk factors, cognitive empathy, assertiveness, social support, peer support, family support, prosocial behavior, cooperation, prevalence of cyberbullying, cyberbullying prevention, Polish adolescents
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