Cyberbullying process in US adolescents and their parents: Testing and extending the Barlett Gentile cyberbullying model.

The purpose of the current research was to test the dual processes involved in predicting cyberbullying perpetration in a sample of US parent-child dyads. The Barlett Gentile cyberbullying model (BGCM) posits how positive cyberbullying attitudes mediate the relationship between anonymity perceptions and cyberbullying perpetration; however, less is known about (a) whether this mediated link is significant for youth and adults alike, (b) if the strength of the relationships in the BGCM differ between youth and adults, and (c) the role of child (or parent) perceptions of their parent's (or child's) cyberbullying behavior has on cyberbullying. Two hundred US parent-child dyads completed measures to assess cyberbullying perpetration, cyberbullying attitudes, cyberbullying perceptions, and anonymity perceptions. Results showed support for BGCM postulates for parents and adolescents; however, the mediated relationship was stronger for youth than adults. Moreover, cyberbullying perceptions correlated strongly with cyberbullying attitudes and cyberbullying perpetration. Results are discussed in terms of theory and intervention applications.

Learning to cyberbully: Longitudinal relations between cyberbullying attitudes and perpetration and the moderating influence of participant sex: A brief report.

Scholars have contended that cyberbullying perpetration is a learned social behavior, and one way to show evidence for cyberbullying learning is to test the longitudinal reciprocal relationships between cyberbullying behavior and related cyberbullying-related cognitions (e.g., attitudes). A paucity of research has tested these learning tenets, and no research that we are aware of has examined the moderating role of sex. The current study used a two-wave longitudinal design with US youth. Participants completed measures of cyberbullying attitudes and perpetration. Results showed that early cyberbullying attitudes and behavior predicted later cyberbullying attitudes and behavior; however, and most importantly, sex moderated those relationships. Males had stronger longitudinal relationships than females. Results are interpreted regarding theory.

Cross-cultural similarities and differences in the theoretical predictors of cyberbullying perpetration: Results from a seven-country study.

The Barlett Gentile cyberbullying model (BGCM) posits that correlated anonymity perceptions and the belief in the irrelevance of muscularity for online bullying (BIMOB) predict positive cyberbullying attitudes to predict subsequent cyberbullying perpetration. Much research has shown the BGCM to be the only published theory that differentiates traditional and cyberbullying while validly predicting cyberbullying. So far, however, the cross-cultural ubiquity has gone understudied. Thus, 1,592 adult participants across seven countries (USA, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, and Singapore) completed measures germane to the BGCM. Supporting the BGCM, the variables were significantly correlated for the entire sample, participants from independent cultures, and participants from interdependent cultures. However, the relationship between BIMOB and positive cyberbullying attitudes as well as the relationship between positive cyberbullying attitudes and cyberbullying perpetration were stronger for independent cultures. These results suggest that the BGCM postulates are mostly universal, but several relations appear to be culturally different. Theoretical implications are discussed.