Cyber-bullismo e cyber-vittimizzazione in Italia: aspetti epidemiologici ed evolutivi

Abstract

Cyber-bullying is the use of the information and communication technologies to harm or harass other people, in a deliberate and repeated manner. However, investigators have yet to reach a
consensus on how to define this problem: so, it is not surprising that rates of cyber bullying show considerable variability. In secondary school the prevalence ranges from 10% to 20%. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the prevalence of bullying, cyber-bullying and victimization among boys and girls and by age in Italy. Cross-sectional self-report surveys including items on cyber victimization were obtained from representative samples of 11-14 year students (N = 2079). The present study found that 6% of student was victimized in virtual worlds; also, high correlations
were found between physical and virtual aggressive behavior.