Cyberbullying among adolescents: Attachment with parents and peers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship pattern of cyber bullying victims with their parents and peers in comparison to their non cyber bullied counterparts. The sample for the present investigation consisted of 489 adolescents, aged 13–17 yrs, drawn from five urban schools of Punjab catering to the population of middle socio-economic status. Adolescents from these schools were screened for cyber bullying victimization to obtain a sample of around 48 cyber bullying victims. An equal number of adolescents were selected in the control group matched on significant aspects like age, sex, socio-economic status, parental education etc. Various psychological measures were administered to the adolescent participants for studying their relationship pattern with parents and peers. t-test was used to analyze the data. Results of the study revealed that cyber bullying victims were low on parental (mother and father) and peer attachment in comparison to adolescents in the control group. Cyber bullying victims exhibited lower levels of parental and peer trust and communication in comparison to their non cyber bullied counterparts. And they were found to be high on parental and peer alienation in comparison to their non cyber bullied counterparts.