report on the psychological effects of cyberbullying on adolescents mental health

With this report our group focuses on the specific issue of cyberbullying and how it effects victims of the adolescent age group in terms of their mental health with the aim to establish

National Economics University Advanced Education Program

Vũ Triều Long 1122 Class: Business Analytics (BA) Lecturer: Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen

Hanoi, February, 2023

List of abbreviations:

- NEU: National Economics University

- High-tech: high technology, advanced technology

1.1 Topic, Overview and Purpose

II G6 ae ằ ằ.ằ 3

2 Literature review ốẦ.ằ.ố.ằ.ẦằẦằồằỐẦ 4 2.1 Abstract

3.3.4 Opinions of participants when asked further questions about cyberbullying 13

FIGURE 3.2-1 THE AVERAGE TIME SPENT USING SOCIAL MEDIA PER DAY OF PARTICIPANTS 8 FIGURE 3.2-2 THE MAIN USES OF THE INTERNET FOR PARTICIPANTS 9

FIGURE 3.3-2 HOW PARTICIPANTS FELT WHEN ENCOUNTERED CYBERBULLYING 5-66 21 21214.910.111 0101910 H10 Hư tết 10 FIiGURE 3.3-3 WHAT ACTIONS WERE TAKEN WHEN PARTICIPANTS ENCOUNTERED/WITNESSED CYBERBULLYING 7 - 5-5 +c+e c2 11 FIGURE 3.3-4 MEANS OF CONDUCT FOR CYBERBULLYING PERPETRATORS 12

FIGURE 3.4-1 WHETHER VICTIMS OF CYBERBULLYING WILL OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR STORIES 13 FIGURE 3.4-2 PARTICIPANTS’ ASSESSMENT ON THE CURRENT STATE OF CYBERBULLYING 14 FIGURE 3.4-3 PARTICIPANTS’ OPINION ON IF “CYBERBULLYING IS BECOMING MORE POPULAR AND HARD TO CONTROL - - 15 FIGURE 3.4-4 VIEWS ON WHETHER CYBERBULLYING SHOULD BE ELIMINATED 15 FIGURE 3.4-5 OPINIONS ON USING THE INTERNET WITHOUT CENSORSHIP: 16 FIGURE 3.4-6 OPINIONS ON WHETHER PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH ONLINE secceceececeeececesesceceasaceceesececeeseceeneate 16 FIGURE 3.4-7 PARTICIPANTS OPINION ON IF VICTIMS OF CYBERBULLYING KNOW THEIR BULLY/BULLIES 55 S5 S4 S2 25 52252552 17

1 Introduction

1.1 Topic, Overview and Purpose

Human society has evolved and developed at an astronomical rate over the last few decades Upon which, mankind has introduced countless inventions and innovations that benefit and improve living qualities One invention; however, stands out as arguably the greatest invention of the 20" century and forever changed the course of human life The Internet, has literally effected every single person in one way or another Its aids in nearly all aspects of our daily lives and serves as a powerful tool in humanity's quest to explore and grow However, nothing is ever truly perfect Though the Internet has unique and unrivaled advantages, it also has noticeable drawbacks Particularly in recent years there has been a rise

in online misconducts With this report our group focuses on the specific issue of cyberbullying and how it effects victims of the adolescent age group in terms of their mental health with the aim to establish a connection between the two matters

1.2 Report structure

This report was divided into 2 main sections: literature review and data analysis together with findings An abstract was provided before the main part of reviewing previous studies to briefly summarize the content of the report Since it is vital to sum up what has already been known about the topic, a short conclusion was written at the end of the first section For the data analysis and findings section, we introduced our method of collecting data, before discussing the results using a number of graphs Lastly, a conclusion was also drawn according

to all the findings

This study mainly concentrates on investigating the causes of cyberbullying and its adverse effects on adolescents’ mental health Thus, the main target audience of this research is young teenagers in the 12-17-age group in Viet Nam Specifically, the research focuses more on the adolescents who suffered psychological ailments for long periods of time due to cyberbullying’s negative effects This study will collect detailed information and data from a survey of 100 students in Vietnam, conducted within 2-3 weeks

The purpose of this study is to present research into the causes and negative mental impacts that cyberbullying inflict on mainly students of middle to high school The response to cyber abuse from victims and victims’ loved ones shall also be touched upon

This report aims to establish a connection between the damaging psychological effects of cyberbullying and adolescents’ mental well-being The results will be valuable to all victims of cyberbullying, particularly those in their adolescence, in helping them identify and avoid potential online hazards, as well as providing help to those suffering cyber abuse Parents, educators and online platform providers can also utilize the information provided to facilitate a better, safer and more positive virtual environment

2 Literature review

The purpose of this study is to present research into the causes and negative mental impacts that cyberbullying inflict on mainly students of middle to high school The response to cyber abuse from victims and victims’ loved ones shall also be touched upon This study seeks to answer the following research questions:

1 Why is cyberbullying so prevalent among adolescents?

2 What are the adverse psychological effects of cyberbullying that victims have to endure?

3 What responsibility must network providers and the government take for this Internet phenomenon?

4, What measures should the government and Internet providers implement to support victims of cyber harassment?

The aim is to establish a connection between the damaging psychological effects of cyberbullying and adolescents’ mental well-being The results will be valuable to all victims of cyberbullying, particularly those in their adolescence, in helping them identify and avoid potential online hazards, as well as providing help to those suffering cyber abuse Parents, educators and online platform providers can also utilize the information provided to facilitate a better, safer and more positive virtual environment

Since the beginning of mankind humans have had to deal with abuse and harassment Like all things, bullying evolves as our society develops technologically Due to our digital

advancements, more and more people are encountering a new form of bullying- cyberbullying Unlike before, where bullies tend to be in schools or the surrounding neighborhood, online bullies are now omnipresent regardless of location, age or gender Social media platforms provide perpetrators the perfect platform for misconducts

The effects of cyber harassment on its victims is undeniable This study will focus its research into the negative psychological impacts that this new kind of bullying inflicts on victims of adolescent age We will examine multiple publications of the clinical literature to pinpoint the reasons for the prevalence of cyberbullying, the mental effects on victims, what responsibilities should be taken and measures to support victims In addition, research into the definitions and current state of the subject matter is also included for better comprehension and utility 2.1 Definition and current state of cyberbullying

To begin with, this study will define the cyberbullying phenomenon technically

Cyberbullying refers to the act of harassing other people What differs this phenomenon from conventional bullying is the methods of action According to Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho, Fisher, Russell and Tippett (2008), cyberbullying involves the usage of electronic devices or social media to inflict psychological harm, humiliation, mental suffering and intimidation towards the intended subjects

In a published research of tfuvonen and Gross (2008), 72% of the youth reported

experiencing cyberbullying either directly or indirectly Meanwhile, another study (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004) shows the aforementioned number was less than 7% Most studies estimate that approximately 6% to 30% of teenagers have experienced various types of cyberbullying at

some certain levels, while the number of adolescents who admitted to have been cyberbullied once or more ranges from 4% to 20% (Patchin & Hinduja, 2012)

2.2 The relationship between bully and victim

The relationship between aggressor and victim is also something that has been heavily researched among professionals Beran and Li (2007) conducted a study that involved 432 middle school students and concluded that just under half of the students had been victims of cyberbullying as well as traditional bullying This is true across multiple studies Wegge et al (2014) also concluded that people who were bullied in traditional manners had a much higher likelihood to become victims of cyberbullying Another interesting relationship between bully and victim is that studies have also shown that people who are victims are likely to become aggressors in the online world Beran et al (2007) confirms this by stating: “students who are bullied through technology are likely to us technology to bully others” Faucher et al (2014) also found similar results claiming that male and female students decided to bully people online because they were bullied first Research has also been done that looks at how the bullies find their victims Wegge et al (2014) studied the perpetrators preferences in victims and found that 27 percent were in the same grade, 14.2 percent were in different grades and a staggering 49.6 percent were not schoolmates of the bullies This evidence somewhat contradicts that of the other studies that state victims are generally bullied at school and at home because it shows that nearly half of the bullies prefer to bully people they don’t go to school with and possibly have do not know at all This continues to build and add to the idea of cyberbullying in that it allows bullies to create their own personas and images in order to try and intimidate and influence others without actually providing a physical intimidation factor

2.3 Prevalence of cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is often considered easier to commit due to the much wider spectrum it provides to the perpetrator Faucher et al (2014) took a look into the most popular platforms for cyberbullying and concluded that social media, text messages, emails were the primary methods of conduct for around 50% of cyberbullies It is clear that the anonymity of social media encourages online abuse Faucher et al (2014) also mentioned how cyber harassment has longer longevity than traditional bullying as hostile content on the Internet can still be reused or revisited, hence bringing back pain and trauma to the victims

2.4 Adverse psychological effects of cyberbullying

In the first parts of this literature review we examined the definition, current state and prevalence of cyberbullying, now we will focus on the damaging mental effects and trauma of online abuse on its victims According to Hof, Dianne; Mitchell, Sidney (2009), enhanced psychological effects are quite distinctive of cyberbullying Not to mention the anonymity factor

of the Internet plays a deciding role in victims fear and sense of hopelessness Furthermore, when it comes to the mental effects of cyber harassment, some common patterns start to appear Bottino et al (2015) stated that cyberbullying was mainly accompanied with depressive symptoms, substance abuse, and suicidal mentality and activity In addition, Nixon, Charisse (2014), mentioned increased signs of trauma, lower self-esteem, and worsening relationships

To be more specific, victims of online abuse suffer more severe symptoms of depression in

comparison to those exposed to other forms of harassments (Bottino et al, 2015) The Hinduja

& Patching study (2012) indicated that targets and perpetrators of cyberbullying are twice as likely to commit suicide as do those not involved in any abuse Moreover, due to the prevalence

of personal digital devices along with inadequate regulation of the web, the relationship between cyberbullying and suicide is greater magnified (Nixon, Charisse, 2014) Litwiller and Brausch (2013) conducted a research into American high school students and theorized substance usage and violent conduct as a coping mechanism for the physical and psychological pain associated with encounters of cyber harassment

These consequences raise a question of responsibility and accountability Who should be held accountable for the misconduct of Internet users? Another question arise as how can the victims be supported?

2.5 Forms of cyberbullying

Social media is very prevalent among cyberbullies but there is also extensive research done

on cell phones and the role they play in the act of cyberbullying Abeele et al (2013) studied various aspects of mobile phone bullying and found that the most prevalent type was gossiping via text message, followed by gossiping over the phone, and concluded with threatening others over text message Abeele et al (2013) also found that girls were more often than not the perpetrators of gossiping while boys made slightly more threats via cell phone This numbers tend lean towards the stereotype of females being more of gossipers and males generally being more aggressive and physical This is also interesting because shows that society’s stereotypes appear to remain true even in a cyber-world

2.6 Measures to support victims by network providers and the government

It is unquestionable that cyberbullying has disastrous effects on the mental health of adolescents, however, there is still a dearth of research into prevention efforts as well as measures to support the victims The few studies available suggest a multi-systemic approach including the role of different subjects In this review, we will specifically discuss how the government and network providers can work alongside parents and schools to reduce the effects of cyberbullying In 1994, Virginia Shea established Netiquette, a set of rules and guidelines for appropriately using the Internet (Ang R P., 2015) Adolescents, when involve in certain conflicts in cyberspace, tend to grant their right to be aggressive due to the lack of restrictions and punishments Therefore, Ang R P concludes that Netiquette should encompass changing beliefs about the legitimacy and acceptability of cyberbullying, in other words teaching adolescents the use of aggression online is unacceptable The promotion of Netiquette must be the joint responsibility of network providers and the government

Social support may be a strong protective factor in reducing the detrimental consequences

of cyberbullying, according to prior studies Adolescents must be willing to ask for help if they are to get the assistance they require to lessen the negative impacts of cyberbullying However, multiple studies indicate that victims of cyberbullying infrequently ask for assistance from teachers or other adults Instead, most victims of cyberbullying remain silent and are unlikely to tell adults about it Nixon-Charisse in 2014 insisted on effective mentoring programs in order to

connect teenagers to adults, as well as maintaining peer relationships Healthcare professionals could routinely inspect adolescents to see if they lack at least a positive attachment with an adult or a friend However, a survey conducted by Sterling Stauffer et al in 2012, more than a half of the teachers responded they were either unsure about a formal prevention program, or that those programs are not necessary and should not be implemented For that reason, Raphael Cohen-Almagor pointed out the importance of tight cooperation between parents, schools, governments, and internet providers in his study in 2018

Through our process of analyzing the current literature, it can be inferred that the cyberbullying phenomenon is quite the recent and concerning matter Its terminology:

“cyberbullying”, got its roots in the word “bully”, a frequent issue that often occurs in schools However, there are various characteristics that sets the former from the latter Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying is much more present in our lives, and is it just restrained to schools or campuses Moreover, the anonymity nature of online bullying means that victims hardly knew the perpetrators and victims themselves can become bullies to other Internet users Victims of cyber harassment have also reported more severe symptoms of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety or fear as do victims of traditional bullying Despite all the undeniable negative effects of cyberbullying, the literature suggested that measures to support victims and mitigate the issue is still limited The few that were available proposed multi- systemic approaches to deal with the issue, ranging from policy makers to those directly involved in cyberbullying

3 Data analysis and findings

With the aim of establishing a relationship between the effects of cyberbullying and adolescents’ mental health, our team has conducted a public online survey on the prevalence and severity of online bullying within a sample of 100 12-to-18 year-olds in Vietnam Through the gathered results, we will achieve a general view of the current state of cyberbullying among Vietnamese adolescents with the use of statistics collected and illustrated diagrams

We have conducted a survey on a sample of 100 adolescents across the provinces of Vietnam with the use of Google Forms as a platform to deliver our survey questions Our survey, consisting of 17 questions, asks participants about their personal information: email, gender, date of birth, occupation, as well as their opinions, knowledge about the cyberbullying matter in addition to their reactions and feelings upon encountering online harassment After reaching our targeted sample amount of 100 answers, the gathered data have been synthesized and graphed into three main chart types: bar chart, column chart and pie chart Based on our collected data from surveying and literature reviewing, our goal is to attain a comprehensive overview of the prevalence, negative effects on mental health and actions taken among our targeted demographic which is adolescents in Vietnam

3.1 General information about surveyed participants

Gender

|

Figure 3.1-1 Participants’ gender Figure 3.1-2 Participants’ occupation

The main focus of the study is adolescents’ mental health; therefore, 98% of the participants were either students or university students, which correlates with our intention Specifically, more than % of people taking part are studying university, and only a minor number of 2 have other occupations

Of the 100 people who took part in the survey, 53% are male while the rest are female The difference between the two genders is not significant

3.2 Internet usage of participants

Average time spent using social media per day

The chart reveals that more than a half of the participants spend from 3 to 10 hours using social media daily 30 people stated that they use between 1-3 hours on social platforms a day Asmall group of 3 people spent under 1 hour on the web per day, while the rest used social media for more than 10 hours

Today's young generation is more equipped at using online materials than ever before Goodstein (2007) stated: “Adults view the Internet as a tool to be used; teens view the Internet

as an extension of themselves.” In general, adolescents spend quite a large amount of time using the web, which to some extent contributes to the rise in cyber bullying cases The group that spends more than 10 hours on the Internet is the most likely to be engaged in

cyberbullying, as the more they surf the web, the more likely they will encounter discussions or controversies

Main uses of the Internet

The data in figure 3.2-2 suggests that most of the people in this age group use Internet to communicate with others, and communicating could lead to cyberbullying whenever there are differences in viewpoints between two or more people, or even when a person provokes someone else This correlates directly with the phrase “extension of teens” as discussed above Playing competitive games is also a potential threat to cyberbullying As one got defeated continuously, that person could become aggressive and starts to insult opponent The fact that

9

people could stay anonymous on the Internet means that they can say whatever they want, even if such thing could mentally harm others

3.3 Participants experiences with cyberbullying

Experiences with cyberbullying

= Never have encountered

The fact that the majority had already encountered at least one form of cyberbullying made

us believe that online abuse is not a recent phenomenon However, the number of participants having experienced cyberbullying themselves is fairly small This is explainable as cyberbullying victims are not likely to ask for help, per multiple reports and studies Also, for this reason, we cannot be certain that those who has close relatives or friends experienced cyberbullying has any knowledge about the issue

Emotions when faced with cyberbullying Humourcus i 22%

Never encountered cyberbullying _ I 205