Effects of victimization and perpetration in observing bullying scenes: an eye-tracker study{es}: Efectos de la victimización y la perpetración en la observación de escenas de acoso: un estudio con eye-tracker.

Introduction: Previous research showed that bullying experiences are associated with different ways of interpreting and behaving in bullying dynamics. However, it remains uncertain whether these distinctions can already be present during the first step of information processing: the allocation of attention. Aims: The study explored attentional patterns of Italian students with different bullying experiences in daily life while observing different roles represented through bullying vignettes. Methods: Participants (72 students, Mage= 11.18) were categorized as victims, bully-victims, or not involved based on their scores on a self-report questionnaire. They observed 9 bullying vignettes on which different portraits were presented (bully, victim, pro-bully, defender, bystander) while the eye-tracker registered attentional indexes (fixation, visit and duration). Results: Kruskal- Wallis and pairwise comparisons revealed a significant effect for the portraits of the bully and the pro-bully as bully-victims exhibited greater fixations and visits than victims, while students not involved showed no significant differences with the other groups. Conclusion: Our research reveals that bully-victims focused more on threatening cues while victims diverged their gaze from them, confirming that the experience of bullying influences how they explore aggressive situations. Learning how involved students direct their attention helps us understand different responses, leading to powerful interventions.

Belonging matters: The impact of social identification with classmates, friends, and family on interpersonal distance and bullying/cyberbullying in adolescence.

In adolescence individuals enlarge their social relationships and peer groups acquire a strong importance for their identity. Moreover, adolescents can experiment negative relationships with peers, i.e., bullying/cyberbullying. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the feeling of belonging to a specific group, social identification, the distance that adolescents maintain interacting with others, interpersonal distance, and bullying/cyberbullying behaviors. Adolescents (age range 10-15 years) completed online measures of group identification (social identification with classmates, friends and family), interpersonal distance, and bullying and cyberbullying (perpetration and victimization). Results showed that adolescents with low social identification with classmates and friends chose larger interpersonal distance. Additionally, low scores in social identification with classmates were associated with higher victimization in cyberbullying. In contrast, adolescents with low scores in social identification with family were more involved as bullies in bullying and as victims in cyberbullying. Male adolescents were more likely to be victimized in bullying than females. This study underlines how social identification with peers and family works as a buffer in interfacing strangers, adjusting the distance maintained with them, and as a protective factor against aggressive relationships in adolescence. This study provides new opportunities for psychologists in understanding the psychological dynamics that shape social interactions among adolescents.

Victimization and cybervictimization: The role of school factors.

INTRODUCTION: Victimization and cybervictimization can negatively affect the subjective experience of well-being. This effect can be mediated by school factors, even if a deep understanding of these factors still needs to be determined. The present study examined how peer network, teacher support, and school connectedness mediated the relationship between victimization, cybervictimization, and well-being. We developed two mediation models, considering victimization (Model 1) and cybervictimization (Model 2) as predictors, well-being as the outcome, peer network, teacher support, and school connectedness as parallel mediators, and gender as a covariate variable. METHODS: The sample comprised 563 Italian students (Mage = 11.5; 45% females). Students filled out a purpose-built questionnaire investigating victimization and cybervictimization, peer network, teacher support, school connectedness, and well-being. Two multiple mediation models were run using Process. RESULTS: The two models showed similar patterns [Model 1: F(8, 169) = 34.35, p ≤ .001, R2 = .34; Model 2: F(8, 169) = 40.13, p ≤ .001, R2 = .34]. Indeed, victimization (Model 1) and cybervictimization (Model 2) had negative significant effects on peer network, teacher support, and school connectedness. However, their direct effects on well-being were not significant, as peer network and school connectedness emerged as complete mediators between victimization (Model 1) and cybervictimization (Model 2) and well-being. Males displayed higher levels of well-being compared to females. CONCLUSIONS: Peer network and school connectedness play a crucial role in mediating the impact of victimization and cybervictimization on well-being. Educators and policymakers should prioritize fostering supportive peer network and strengthening school connectedness to create an environment that mitigates the negative effects of victimization and cybervictimization, enhancing overall student well-being.

What roles matter? An explorative study on bullying and cyberbullying by using the eye-tracker.

BACKGROUND: Bullying and cyberbullying are serious public health concerns that involve more roles beyond the bully and the victim (pro-bullies, defenders, bystanders). However, students often perceive the phenomena as dyadic. AIM: The purpose was to examine students' perceptions of different roles when observing bullying and cyberbullying scenes combining implicit (attention by using the eye-tracker) and explicit (verbal reports) measures. SAMPLE: We included 50 Italian students (aged 10-11). METHODS: Students watched 12 drawings of different types of bullying and cyberbullying while their gaze was tracked, and subsequently described each drawing verbally. We ran repeated measure ANOVAs to compare attentional indexes (fixation count, visit count and total fixation duration) in observing roles and Cochran's Q test to evaluate differences in the verbal identification of roles. RESULTS: Overall, the victim and bully were the most observed and identified roles in every type of bullying and cyberbullying scenario. Concerning the other roles, a discrepancy was observed between the implicit and explicit measures since although it was greatly identified, the pro-bully received less attention, and while the bystander received great attention, it was mentioned less. Finally, the defender was more observed and identified in physical bullying and cyberbullying. CONCLUSIONS: Our study points out for the first time the dyadic perception of the phenomena among adolescents using implicit and explicit measures and sheds light on differences among the roles in different forms of bullying. Further research including the eye-tracker would be worthwhile given the possibility of exploring the phenomena from different perspectives.

Stay Safe and Strong: Characteristics, Roles and Emotions of Student-Produced Comics Related to Cyberbullying.

The present study aimed at giving voice to students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds using a co-participatory approach. Participants were 59 adolescents (52.5% males) aged between 14 and 16 from five European countries who created ten comics to illustrate cyberbullying for a broader audience of peers. We analyzed texts and images according to four primary themes: cyberbullying episodes (types, platforms, co-occurrence with bullying), coping strategies, characters (roles, gender, and group membership), and emotions. The content analysis showed that online denigration on social media platforms was widely represented and that cyberbullying co-existed with bullying. Social strategies were frequently combined with passive and confrontational coping, up to suicide. All roles (cyberbully, cybervictim, bystander, reinforcer, defender) were portrayed among the 154 characters identified, even if victims and defenders appeared in the vignettes more often. Males, females, peers, and adults were represented in all roles. Among the 87 emotions detected, sadness was the most frequently expressed, followed by joy, surprise, anger, and fear. Emotions, mainly represented by drawings or drawings with text, were most often represented in association with cybervictims. The results are discussed in terms of their methodological and practical implications, as they emphasize the importance of valorizing young peoples' voices in research and interventions against cyberbullying.

Distance Education among Italian Teachers: Differences and Experiences.

The successful integration of technology in teaching is a key component of education. Although prior research highlighted factors fostering the use of technology by teachers, few studies focused on whether these factors vary among teachers of different grade levels and subjects. Moreover, no studies have investigated personal experiences related to distance education among a large sample of teachers. To address these gaps, the present mixed-method study sought to examine whether factors promoting distance education varied among Italian teachers of different grade levels and subjects. A further aim was to explore experiences of teachers using distance education. The sample involved 357 Italian teachers and preservice teachers who completed an online questionnaire during the COVID-19 pandemic that also contained open-ended questions. Findings indicated that teaching self-efficacy was greater in pre-service and primary teachers, while facilitating conditions were greater in humanities and science secondary teachers. The perceived ease of use of technology and technology for pedagogy skills were more pronounced among science secondary teachers. Advanced technology skills were lower in humanities secondary teachers while the behavioural intention to use technology was greatest among pre-service teachers. Four themes emerged from the qualitative study of teachers' insights. These included positive and negative aspects of using technology, the relationship with students, the versatility of distance education, and the quality of lessons. This study underscores the need to address training based on different teachers' grade levels and subjects, and to focus on the emerging themes to better integrate the use of technology in schools.

The P.E.A.C.E. Pack Program in Italian High Schools: An Intervention for Victims of Bullying.

Background: Bullying is a serious public issue, which mainly occurs in school with negative consequences for the students involved as victims. Very few teacher-delivered interventions have shown positive changes in the victims. The present study aimed at implementing the P.E.A.C.E. (Preparation, Education. Action, Coping, Evaluation) pack program, developed in Australia, in Italian high schools. Method: The effectiveness of the program was analyzed through an observational study (pre/post-intervention), involving 551 Italian high school students who completed a questionnaire on bullying victimization, self-efficacy, and bystander behavior. The students were divided into three groups (not involved students, occasional and severe victims) according to their self-reported victimization in the pre-intervention. Results: After the intervention, severe victims (victimized once/week or more often) showed a significant decrease in victimization and higher scores in self-efficacy, while an increase in victimization was observed in the not involved students. As reported by all the groups after the intervention, classmates were perceived more likely to intervene when a bullying episode occurred. By contrast, occasional and severe victims perceived their teachers as less likely to intervene. Conclusions: The P.E.A.C.E. pack is a promising program confirming in Italian schools the effectiveness already shown in other countries. This program is very useful for severe victims, supporting their self-confidence with a decrease in the frequency of aggressive episodes.

RPC Teacher-Based Program for Improving Coping Strategies to Deal with Cyberbullying.

BACKGROUND: Cyberbullying is a serious threat to public health and teachers can play a key role in its detection, prevention and intervention. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of the RPC ("Relazioni per crescere"-Relationships to Grow) program, a short intervention, implemented at classroom level by trained teachers, aimed at improving awareness on cyberbullying and increasing proactive coping strategies to deal with cyberbullying behaviors. METHOD: The effectiveness of the RPC project was analyzed through an observational study (pre/post-intervention comparison), involving 898 Italian students of Lower Secondary schools (6th⁻8th grades). RESULTS: Hierarchical logistic regression showed that after the intervention students were more likely to consider the different roles in cyberbullying (cyberbully, cybervictim, reinforce/assistant, defender and bystander/observer). In addition, hierarchical linear regressions highlighted an improvement of social coping and cognitive coping strategies after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: RPC is a short, teacher-based program that can increase the awareness of cyberbullying among students and improves their effective coping strategies to address cyberbullying. Further research on the efficacy of short teacher-based programs would be worthwhile, given the limited financial and time resources of the schools, emphasizing the active and crucial role of teachers in tackling cyberbullying.