This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A new study of 4,200 adolescents revealed that cyberbullying rarely occurs in isolation; it almost always functions as an extension of physical and verbal aggression already present in the school environment. The study, conducted at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) in Brazil, mapped students' involvement in bullying and found that the lines between victims and perpetrators often blur in a cycle of violence spanning both the physical and digital worlds.
Beyond mapping instances of aggression, the study raises a warning: Involvement in multiple bullying contexts is strongly associated with psychological distress and the use of substances such as alcohol and cigarettes. The data were published in the journal Psychiatry Research. Students from seventh grade of elementary school through the third year of high school participated in the study.
Through statistical analyses, the study identified three profiles of adolescents. The largest group (48%) shows no significant association with any type of violence. The next group, representing 46% of the sample, consists of young people who are frequently bullied at school and sometimes engage in bullying but rarely in cyberbullying.
The final group, representing 6% of the sample, is the most complex: the so-called "victim-perpetrators" who experience and perpetrate acts of aggression in multiple contexts and frequently move between physical and online environments. Though it is the smallest group, the third group is the most vulnerable. More than half (52.4%) of young people classified as victim-perpetrators in multiple contexts exhibit psychological symptoms at a clinically significant level, compared with 12.5% of those not involved in bullying.
They are also more likely to use alcohol, tobacco and other drugs: Seven out of 10 have consumed alcohol at some point in their lives, and cigarette use is nearly three times more frequent than among their peers who are not involved in bullying incidents. "The research shows that violence against the same young person occurs both at school and online, indicating that cyberbullying is often an extension of in-person conflict. We have to look very closely at these young people involved in multiple contexts.
It includes mental health issues and the use of alcohol and other drugs. There's no way to separate them. "This study reinforces the evidence that in Brazil, it isn't possible to have one program focused solely on mental health, another on drug prevention and a third against bullying, as is often seen in schools.
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