Contents and Contexts of Cyberbullying: An Epidemiologic Study using Electronic Detection and Social Network Analysis, Iowa, 2014-2015 (ICPSR 36991)

Version Date: Dec 15, 2021

Cite this study |

Principal Investigator(s):
Marizen Ramirez, University of Minnesota; Anthony Paik, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36991.v1

Version V1

Slide tabs to view more

Summary

Using a multi-methods research design, this study classified the contents of cyberbullying messages, measured their frequency and associations with offline bullying, and examined whether and how peer groups in social networks promote these behaviors.

Beginning in January 2015, 164 adolescents from 2 Iowa middle schools, grades 6 through 8, were surveyed. Two surveys, one at the start of the spring semester and one at the end of spring 2015, gathered self-reported information on perpetration, victimization, and witnessing of online and offline bullying and the structure of peer networks. A total of 77 students furthermore participated in an electronic capture period from January through May 2015. Participant smartphones were equipped with an application that collected incoming and outgoing text messages and Facebook and Twitter activity, and also surveyed them weekly about their bullying experiences. Demographic information collected included age, grade, gender, ethnicity, parents' marital status, household composition, religiosity, and socioeconomic status.

Citation

Ramirez, Marizen, and Paik, Anthony. Contents and Contexts of Cyberbullying: An Epidemiologic Study using Electronic Detection and Social Network Analysis, Iowa, 2014-2015. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-12-15. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36991.v1

Export Citation:

  • RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
  • EndNote

Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2013-IJ-CX-0030)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

None

Restrictions

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Hide

Time Period(s)

2014-12 -- 2015-05

Date of Collection

2014-12 -- 2015-03 (Wave 1 Survey), 2015-05 (Wave 2 Survey)
Hide

Study Purpose

This study follows a longitudinal cohort of middle school students over five months to capture cyber communications from smartphones. In addition, self-reported experiences of online and offline bullying were collected. The objectives of this study were to:

  1. Classify the contents of cyberbullying messages and measure the frequency of various content themes in electronic communications.
  2. Estimate associations between cyberbullying and offline bullying.
  3. Examine associations between cyberbullying and social-network positions and composition.

Study Design

Middle school participants enrolled between December 2014 and March 2015 were invited to complete two surveys, one at baseline upon enrollment and one at follow-up in May 2015. Of the 164 students who completed a Wave I survey, 152 completed a Wave II survey for a retention rate of 92.6%. An additional three participants who enrolled into the study in April and May 2015 only completed the Wave II survey instrument.

Wave I and Wave II participants had comparable demographics. Both surveys contained questions about demographics, daily activities, health, academics, attachment to parents, dating experiences, electronic communications, experiences of aggressive behavior, delinquency, and drug and alcohol use. Surveys were completed either online in Qualtrics or by self-administered hard copy form and took approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. Participants were compensated $15 for completing each survey.

Android users or Facebook or Twitter users were eligible for participation in the electronic capture phase. For this phase, 77 participants uploaded an application onto their smartphone for registration into the study. For Android users, the application collected all text, Facebook, and Twitter messages from January to May 2015. For iPhone users, the application captured Facebook and Twitter posts. No text messages were captured from iPhone users; the smartphone text capture could not be programmed into the iPhone operating systems.

Participants of the electronic capture phases also received weekly queries by texts requesting them to answer questions about bullying experiences. Participants were compensated $40 per month during the electronic capture period.

Sample

The study sample is comprised of students (grades 6-8) enrolled in two middle schools in Iowa during the 2014-2015 school year. A total of 933 students were invited to participate in the study between December 2014 and May 2015. Members of the research team attended five in-person recruitment events (three at one school and two at another). Recruitment packets which contained an information sheet, consent and assent forms, survey documents and paid self-addressed envelopes were distributed either by mail (at one school) or through school distribution to parents (at the second school). At least four additional rounds of follow-up recruitment packages were delivered to eligible participants.

Time Method

Longitudinal

Universe

Students enrolled in two Iowa middle schools from December 2014-May 2015.

Unit(s) of Observation

Peer Communications, Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

Dataset 1 contains Wave I Survey data and Dataset 2 contains Wave II Survey data. Both datasets contain variables documenting demographics, daily activities, health, academics, attachment to parents, dating experiences, electronic communications, experiences of aggressive behavior, delinquency, and drug and alcohol use.

Dataset 3 contains a coded analysis of individual messages. Variables describe the content (hygiene, appearance, and so on) and target (peer to peer, peer about peer, and so on) of aggressive messages.

Dataset 4 contains data from weekly text queries about student bullying experiences during the electronic capture phase of the study.

Response Rates

A total of 933 students from two middle schools were invited to participate in the study between December 2014 and May 2015. Of the 933, 167 (17.9%) consented to participation and completed at least one of the two participation surveys. A total of 164 completed Wave 1 Surveys, while 155 completed Wave 2 Surveys. All students who reported being the primary user of 1) an Android, or 2) iPhone and Facebook user were eligible for an electronic capture phase. Of the 167, a total of 75 (47.0%) enrolled in the electronic capture phase, and an additional two students did not complete any surveys but enrolled in only the electronic capture phase. Thus, of the original 933, 8.3% participated in the electronic capture part.

Presence of Common Scales

1. Socially assigned gender nonconformity. Wylie SA, Corliss HL, Boulanger V, Prokop LA, Austin SB, 2010.

2. Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D), 12 item.

3. Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Canty-Mitchell & Zimet, 2000

4. 2015 Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance Study, alcohol, smoking and delinquency questions.

5. Adolescent Health Questions on religiosity.

Hide

Original Release Date

2021-12-15

Version History

2021-12-15 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Performed consistency checks.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Hide

Weight

No weights were applied.

Hide

Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.