Using Research To Understand Cyberbullying

• NCJ Number: 250297
• Date Published: October 2016
• Author(s): Megan Moreno
• Length: 1 page
• Grant Number(s): 2013-IJ-CX-0051
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

In this video and accompanying transcript, Dr. Megan Moreno of the Center for Child Health, Behavioral, and Human Development of the Seattle Children's Hospital discusses the use of research to understand cyber-bullying.

Abstract

Dr. Moreno is an adolescent medicine physician engaged in research that comes from experiences in clinical settings. Over the last 5 years , her clinic has seen many patients very concerned about cyber-bullying; either they have experienced it themselves or know peers who have had such experiences. What has interested Dr. Moreno in attempting to understand cyber-bullying is that so many research teams are using different definitions in the course of their research. This, in turn, influences the types of answers they derive from their research, and it makes it difficult to reach an understanding of the prevalence of cyber-bullying. This diversity in definitions of cyber-bullying is also found in school policies that purport to address it. This carries over to students, who are uncertain as to whether or not they have been victims of cyber-bullying. In the endeavor to arrive at a consistent definition based on data from youth and educators, Dr. Moreno's research team is using "concept mapping," which is a method that has been used in the public health literature, particularly in nursing literature. The focus is on involving the perceptions and experiences of stakeholders who deal regularly with youths' intimidating experiences online. Stakeholder types might include healthcare providers, educators, youth, their families, and those who deal with bullying in the legal arena.