Study: cyberbullying associated with greater psychological distress than bullying at high school

By Martine Powers and David Filipov, Globe Staff

High school students who are bullied online are more likely to report symptoms of depression and suicide attempts than students who were bullied only at school, according to a survey of students in the communities west of Boston published today.

The study, which appears on the website of the American Journal of Public Health, also found that girls are more likely than boys to report being victims of cyberbullying, and students who do not identify themselves as heterosexual are more likely to report being bullied online and at school.

In the study by the Education Development Center, a non-profit education research organization based in Newton, 16.5 percent of students reported being bullied at school only, 6.4 percent of students reported being bullied online only; and 9.4 percent both at school and online.

Of students who reported being victims of both cyberbullying and school bullying, 47 percent reported symptoms of depression. Of students who reported being bullied online only, 33.9 percent reported such symptoms. This is compared to 26.6 percent of those who said they were bullied only at school, and 13.6 of students who said they had not been bullied.

“Electronic communication allows the perpetrator to maintain anonymity and to post messages to a very wide audience,” said Shari Kessel Schneider, a senior research associate at the Education Development Center and lead writer of the study. “Cyberbullying can occur at any time and any location and doesn’t stop when students leave the schoolyard and enter their own homes.”

The survey, funded by the MetroWest Health Foundation, was distributed at 22 high schools west of Boston in the fall of 2008. Researchers surveyed more than 20,000 students using written questionairres.

“A study like this gives a lot of strength to other findings that have been found anecdotally and in past studies of smaller numbers,” said Elizabeth Englander, professor of psychology at Bridgewater State University and director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center.

The results come to light in the wake of high-profile cases of bullying that led to suicides, including the January 2010 case of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant living in South Hadley who hanged herself in her closet after being taunted by her classmates in school and online.

The study found that 18.3 percent of girls reported being bullied online compared to 13.2 percent of boys. For bullying at school, the numbers are roughly equal: 25.1 percent of girls and 26.6 percent of boys reported being bullied there.

“Girls tend to engage in forms of bullying that are less confrontational,” Kessel Schneider said.

Among students who did not identify themselves as heterosexual, 33.1 percent reported having been bullied online, compared to 14.5 percent of students who said they were heterosexual.

Students were asked questions about bullying, such as, “How many times has someone used the Internet, a phone, or other electronic communications to bully, tease, or threaten you?”

The survey also asked students about their grades and their feelings of psychological distress, asking questions, like “How many times did you hurt or injure yourself on purpose? (For example, by cutting, burning, or bruising yourself on purpose).”

School performance also appeared to be correlated with bullying: 7.4 percent of students who said they received mostly A’s in school experienced bullying in school and online, while 16.1 percent of students who received mostly D’s and F’s reported both forms of bullying.

Though the study revealed associations between bullying and psychological distress, it did not attempt to identify whether the symptoms of psychological distress result from bullying or if those students who experience mental health problems are more likely to be bullied.