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Copyright of Aula Abierta. Revista de Investigación, Formación e Innovación en Educación (RIFIE) is the property of Universidad de Oviedo, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cybergossip is the act of two or more people making evaluative comments via digital devices about somebody who is not present. This cyberbehavior affects the social group in which it occurs and can either promote or hinder peer relationships. Scientific studies that assess the nature of this emerging and interactive behavior in the virtual world are limited. Some research on traditional gossip has identified it as an inherent and defining element of indirect relational aggression. This paper adopts and argues for a wider definition of gossip that includes positive comments and motivations. This work also suggests that cybergossip has to be measured independently from traditional gossip due to key differences when it occurs through ICT. This paper presents the Colombian and Spanish validation of the Cybergossip Questionnaire for Adolescents (CGQ-A), involving 3,747 high school students (M = 13.98 years old, SD = 1.69; 48.5% male), of which 1,931 were Colombian and 1,816 were Spanish. Test models derived from item response theory, confirmatory factor analysis, content validation, and multi-group analysis were run on the full sample and subsamples for each country and both genders. The obtained optimal fit and psychometric properties confirm the robustness and suitability of a one-dimensional structure for the cybergossip instrument. The multi-group analysis shows that the cybergossip construct is understood similarly in both countries and between girls and boys. The composite reliability ratifies convergent and divergent validity of the scale. Descriptive results show that Colombian adolescents gossip less than their Spanish counterparts and that boys and girls use cybergossip to the same extent. As a conclusion, this study confirmes the relationship between cybergossip and cyberbullying, but it also supports a focus on positive cybergossip in psychoeducational interventions to build positive virtual relationships and prevent risky cyberbehaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Psicologia Educativa is the property of Colegio Oficial de Psicologos de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cyberbullying is the act of using unjustified aggression to harm or harass via digital devices. Currently regarded as a widespread problem, the phenomenon has attracted growing research interest in different measures of cyberbullying and the similarities and differences across countries and cultures. This article presents the Colombian validation of the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ) involving 3,830 high school students ( M = 13.9 years old, standard deviation = 1.61; 48.9 percent male), of which 1,931 were Colombian and 1,899 Spanish. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), content validation, and multigroup analysis were performed with each of the sample subgroups. The optimal fits and psychometric properties obtained confirm the robustness and suitability of the assessment instrument to jointly measure cyber-aggression and cyber-victimization. The results corroborated the theoretical construct and the two-dimensional and universal nature of cyberbullying. The multigroup analysis showed that cyberbullying dynamics are similar in both countries. The comparative analyses of prevalence revealed that Colombian students are less involved in cyberbullying. The results indicate the suitability of the instrument and the advantages of using such a tool to evaluate and guide psychoeducational interventions aimed at preventing cyberbullying in countries where few studies have been performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Psicologia Educativa is the property of Colegio Oficial de Psicologos de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents results from an evaluation of the ConRed cyberbullying intervention program. The program's impacts were separately determined for the different roles within cyberbullying that students can take, i.e., cyber-victims, cyber-bullies, cyber-bully/victims, and bystanders. The ConRed program is a theory-driven program designed to prevent cyberbullying and improve cyberbullying coping skills. It involves students, teachers, and families. During a 3-month period, external experts conducted eight training sessions with students, two with teachers and one with families. ConRed was evaluated through a quasi-experimental design, in which students from three secondary schools were separated into experimental and control groups. The sample comprised 875 students, aged between 11 and 19 years. More students (n = 586) were allocated to the experimental groups at the specific insistence of the management of all schools; the remainder (n = 289) formed the control. Repeated measures MANOVA showed that cyber victims, cyber aggressors and cyberbully/victims reduced their involvement in cyberbullying. Moreover, cyber-victims and bystanders adjusted their perceptions about their control of personal information on the Internet, and cyber aggressors and bystanders reduced their Internet dependence. The ConRed program had stronger effects on male participants, especially in heightening their affective empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade, cyberbullying has become an increasing concern which has been addressed by diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. As a result there is a debate about its nature and rigorously validated assessment instruments have not yet been validated. In this context, in the present study an instrument composed of 22 items representing the different types of behaviours and actions that define cyberbullying has been structurally validated and its cross-cultural robustness has been calculated for the two main dimensions: cyber-victimization and cyber-aggression. To this end, 5679 secondary school students from six European countries (Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, and Greece) were surveyed through this self-report questionnaire which was designed based on previously existing instruments and the most relevant conceptual elements. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted and the global internal consistency was computed for the instrument and its two dimensions. Identical factor structures were found across all of the six subsamples. The results contribute to existing research by providing an instrument, the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, which has been structurally validated in a wide sample from six different countries and that is useful to evaluate psycho-educative interventions against cyberbullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative effects of traditional bullying and, recently, cyberbullying on victims are well-documented, and abundant empirical evidence for it exists. Cybervictimization affects areas such as academic performance, social integration and self-esteem, and causes emotions ranging from anger and sadness to more complex problems such as depression. However, not all victims are equally affected, and the differences seem to be due to certain situational and personal characteristics. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) and the emotional impact of cybervictimization. We hypothesize that EI, which has previously been found to play a role in traditional bullying and cyberbullying, may also affect the emotional impact of cyberbullying. The participants in our study were 636 university students from two universities in the south of Spain. Three selfreport questionnaires were used: the "European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire," the "Cyberbullying Emotional Impact Scale"; and "Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24." Structural Equation Models were used to test the relationships between the analyzed variables. The results support the idea that PEI, by way of a moderator effect, affects the relationship between cybervictimization and emotional impact. Taken together, cybervictimization and PEI explain much of the variance observed in the emotional impact in general and in the negative dimensions of that impact in particular. Attention and Repair were found to be inversely related to Annoyance and Dejection, and positively related to Invigoration. Clarity has the opposite pattern; a positive relationship with Annoyance and Dejection and an inverse relationship with Invigoration. Various hypothetical explanations of these patterns are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of social relationships in schools has been considered to be a relevant issue in the prevention of problems related to educational convivencia, such as bullying. Nowadays, these relationships have been enriched by digital devices, which not only offer new potentialities, but also new problems. In fact, convivencia has turned into cyber convivencia and some phenomena, such as bullying, have turned into cyberbullying. In this study, we analysed the possible relation between direct school convivencia and virtual life, and particularly, the predictive power of the school convivencia over cyberbullying. For these purposes, we surveyed 893 Compulsory Secondary Education students (45.9% girls) about the quality of the convivencia and the involvement in cyberbullying. The results offer a good fixed structural equation model in which the quality of the horizontal and vertical relationships is a predictor variable of cyberbullying. Therefore, the results in this study are proof of the relation between the quality of the direct school convivencia and the problems that arise in virtual environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is certain controversy on whether cyber-bullying is a category of bullying as it appears in a very different scenario away from the schools. The objective of this research has been to know if the variables that predict the involvement of youngsters in traditional bullying are also predictor of the appearance of cyber-bullying. Accordingly, we have looked for the similarities and the differences existing in the involvement on these phenomena. The sample is composed by secondary school pupils (n =893, 45.9% girls; age , SD=1.47). The results show that there are multiple relations between the predictor variables of school bullying and the specific variables of virtual environments that predict cyber-bullying. It has been obtained a new model that explains both phenomena which could be a strong evidence to base future interventions to prevent and reduce these problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The incredible force with which ITCs have arrived in society and the consequent risks to children when dealing with the Internet and social networks make it necessary for the domain of virtual environments to be included in the school curriculum. However, the initiatives in this direction are limited and there is a lack of rigorously evaluated programs that might act as a basis for designing educational lines of action. The ConRed Program is based on the theory of normative social behavior and aims to reduce problems such as cyber-bullying and addiction to the Internet and refocus the misadjusted perception of information control in the social networks in order to promote their use in a more beneficial way. The ConRed Program has been evaluated using a quasi-experimental methodology, with an experimental group (N=595) and a quasi-control group (N=298) consisting of 893 students (45.9% girls) with an average age of 13.80 years (SD= 1.47). The reduction of problems in the experimental group and the lack of change in the control group is evidence of the program's validity, and show that by working and collaborating with the whole educational community it is possible to improve the quality of the virtual and, therefore, the real life of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intervention against cyberbullying and other risks associated with the misuse of ITC and social networks is an important social demand. The 'Asegúrate' Program tries to support teachers in this intervention. This research shows the impact of the program among those that have shown to be less sensitive in other studies: cyber-aggressors. Concretely, the impact of the program on the prevalence of aggression in cyberbullying and bullying, sexting and abusive use of the Internet and social networks are analyzed. The evaluation of the program was carried out with a sample of 479 students (54.9% girls) of Compulsory Secondary Education (age M=13.83. SD=1.40) through a quasi-experimental methodology, with two measures over time. The instruments used were the "European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire", the "European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire", the "Internet Related Experiences Questionnaire" and two items about sexting involvement. The results show that the involvement in cyber aggression, sexting, and intrapersonal dimension of abusive use of Internet and social network increases without intervention, whereas it diminishes when the intervention is carried out. Moreover, a significant decrease in the aggression and cyber aggression among cyber aggressors is evidenced. Thus, 'Asegúrate' Program is effective for decreasing the prevalence of aggressions and cyber aggressions as well as the involvement in other phenomena considered cyberbullying risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The present study set out to investigate which role empathy plays in traditional bullying and cyberbullying in a sample of adolescents from Greece and Spain. Furthermore, the study aimed to assess invariance of the relationship between empathy and (cyber) bullying across gender, age and nationality. Method The sample comprised 564 secondary education students attending grades 7 to 10 in typical coeducational schools in Spain and Greece. Participants completed structured anonymous questionnaires on traditional bullying, cyberbullying and empathy. Responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results Both cognitive and affective empathy negatively predicted traditional bullying and cyberbullying perpetration. Mean differences were found for gender and age groups, with girls and older students scoring higher in empathy compared to boys and younger students. Also, older students scored higher in cyberbullying perpetration than younger ones. However, the effect of empathy on bullying and cyberbullying was invariant across gender, age and nationality. Conclusions Cognitive and affective empathy are important correlates of both traditional bullying and cyberbullying, independent of gender, age and nationality. Overall, the results provide valuable information for the development of evidence-based interventions and educational campaigns against bullying and cyberbullying in adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]