Citation

Psychol. Bull. 2014; 140(4): 1137.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/a0036634

PMID

24956124

Abstract

Reports an error in "Bullying in the Digital Age: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Cyberbullying Research Among Youth" by Robin M. Kowalski, Gary W. Giumetti, Amber N. Schroeder and Micah R. Lattanner (Psychological Bulletin, Advanced Online Publication, Feb 10, 2014, np). The words "cyberbullying perpetration" and "cyber victimization" were switched in the figure captions for Figures 2 and 3. The corrected captions for Figures 2 and 3 appear in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2014-04307-001.) Although the Internet has transformed the way our world operates, it has also served as a venue for cyberbullying, a serious form of misbehavior among youth. With many of today's youth experiencing acts of cyberbullying, a growing body of literature has begun to document the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of this behavior, but the literature is highly fragmented and lacks theoretical focus. Therefore, our purpose in the present article is to provide a critical review of the existing cyberbullying research. The general aggression model is proposed as a useful theoretical framework from which to understand this phenomenon. Additionally, results from a meta-analytic review are presented to highlight the size of the relationships between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, as well as relationships between cyberbullying and other meaningful behavioral and psychological variables. Mixed effects meta-analysis results indicate that among the strongest associations with cyberbullying perpetration were normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement, and the strongest associations with cyberbullying victimization were stress and suicidal ideation. Several methodological and sample characteristics served as moderators of these relationships. Limitations of the meta-analysis include issues dealing with causality or directionality of these associations as well as generalizability for those meta-analytic estimates that are based on smaller sets of studies (k < 5). Finally, the present results uncover important areas for future research. We provide a relevant agenda, including the need for understanding the incremental impact of cyberbullying (over and above traditional bullying) on key behavioral and psychological outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en