IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v13y2023i2p47-d1072097.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Children’s Online Safety: Predictive Factors of Cyberbullying and Online Grooming Involvement

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio Tintori

    (Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council of Italy, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Giulia Ciancimino

    (Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council of Italy, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Ilaria Bombelli

    (Department of Statistical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Daniele De Rocchi

    (Department of Statistical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Loredana Cerbara

    (Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council of Italy, 00185 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

The increase in the use of the Internet, strongly boosted by the spread of COVID-19, has amplified the risk of involvement in cyberbullying and online grooming among minors. To date, most research on these phenomena has focused on middle and high school students, with fewer studies on younger children. The present study aims to fill this knowledge gap by measuring the spread of cyberbullying and online grooming in a sample of 410 primary school students in the city of Rome and by identifying the main individual and environmental predictors associated with the involvement of children in these phenomena using factor analysis. Results indicate that both cyberbullying and online grooming are widespread among respondents, showing common traits within the four latent dimensions identified. Screen time is among the main predictors of children’s involvement, together with parental supervision, phubbing behaviours, prosocial tendencies and family socio-economic background. These findings highlight the need for further studies on representative samples of this age group, as well as for a greater cooperative effort among schools, parents and caregivers to keep children safe in the virtual world.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Tintori & Giulia Ciancimino & Ilaria Bombelli & Daniele De Rocchi & Loredana Cerbara, 2023. "Children’s Online Safety: Predictive Factors of Cyberbullying and Online Grooming Involvement," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:47-:d:1072097
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/2/47/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/2/47/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wong, Dennis S.W. & Chan, Heng Choon (Oliver) & Cheng, Christopher H.K., 2014. "Cyberbullying perpetration and victimization among adolescents in Hong Kong," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 133-140.
    2. van Buuren, Stef & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Karin, 2011. "mice: Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations in R," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 45(i03).
    3. Jesús Henares-Montiel & Vivian Benítez-Hidalgo & Isabel Ruiz-Pérez & Guadalupe Pastor-Moreno & Miguel Rodríguez-Barranco, 2022. "Cyberbullying and Associated Factors in Member Countries of the European Union: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Studies with Representative Population Samples," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-13, June.
    4. Igor Bernik & Kaja Prislan & Anže Mihelič, 2022. "Country Life in the Digital Era: Comparison of Technology Use and Cybercrime Victimization between Residents of Rural and Urban Environments in Slovenia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, November.
    5. Antonio Tintori & Giulia Ciancimino & Giorgio Giovanelli & Loredana Cerbara, 2021. "Bullying and Cyberbullying among Italian Adolescents: The Influence of Psychosocial Factors on Violent Behaviours," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-11, February.
    6. Juan M. Machimbarrena & Esther Calvete & Liria Fernández-González & Aitor Álvarez-Bardón & Lourdes Álvarez-Fernández & Joaquín González-Cabrera, 2018. "Internet Risks: An Overview of Victimization in Cyberbullying, Cyber Dating Abuse, Sexting, Online Grooming and Problematic Internet Use," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-15, November.
    7. Juan de D. Benítez-Sillero & José M. Armada Crespo & Esther Ruiz Córdoba & Javier Raya-González, 2021. "Relationship between Amount, Type, Enjoyment of Physical Activity and Physical Education Performance with Cyberbullying in Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    8. Estefanía Estévez & Elizabeth Cañas & Jesús F. Estévez & Amapola Povedano, 2020. "Continuity and Overlap of Roles in Victims and Aggressors of Bullying and Cyberbullying in Adolescence: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-15, October.
    9. Marina Carvalho & Cátia Branquinho & Margarida Gaspar Matos, 2021. "Cyberbullying and Bullying: Impact on Psychological Symptoms and Well-Being," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(1), pages 435-452, February.
    10. Tippett, N. & Wolke, D., 2014. "Socioeconomic status and bullying: A meta-analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(6), pages 48-59.
    11. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sandro Serpa & Maria José Sá, 2024. "Education and Digital Societies for a Sustainable World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-7, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Varela, Jorge J. & Fábrega, Jorge & Carrillo, Gisela & Benavente, Mariavictoria & Alfaro, Jaime & Rodríguez, Carlos, 2020. "Bullying and subjective well-being: A hierarchical socioeconomical status analysis of Chilean adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    2. Marta Malinowska-Cieślik & Dorota Kleszczewska & Anna Dzielska & Monika Ścibor & Joanna Mazur, 2023. "Similarities and Differences between Psychosocial Determinants of Bullying and Cyberbullying Perpetration among Polish Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Noémi Kreif & Richard Grieve & Iván Díaz & David Harrison, 2015. "Evaluation of the Effect of a Continuous Treatment: A Machine Learning Approach with an Application to Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(9), pages 1213-1228, September.
    4. Lillemo, Shuling Chen, 2014. "Measuring the effect of procrastination and environmental awareness on households' energy-saving behaviours: An empirical approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 249-256.
    5. Xiaoxu Dong & Huawei Zhao & Tiancai Li, 2022. "The Role of Live-Streaming E-Commerce on Consumers’ Purchasing Intention regarding Green Agricultural Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, April.
    6. Abhilash Bandam & Eedris Busari & Chloi Syranidou & Jochen Linssen & Detlef Stolten, 2022. "Classification of Building Types in Germany: A Data-Driven Modeling Approach," Data, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-23, April.
    7. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Governance, capital flight and industrialisation in Africa," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 8(1), pages 1-22, December.
    8. Pamela E. Ofori & Simplice A. Asongu & Vanessa S. Tchamyou, 2021. "The Synergy between Governance and Economic Integration in Promoting Female Economic Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 21/071, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    9. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Knowledge Economy and Financial Sector Competition in African Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 333-346, June.
    10. Boonstra Philip S. & Little Roderick J.A. & West Brady T. & Andridge Rebecca R. & Alvarado-Leiton Fernanda, 2021. "A Simulation Study of Diagnostics for Selection Bias," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 37(3), pages 751-769, September.
    11. Pasura Aungkulanon & Walailak Atthirawong & Pongchanun Luangpaiboon & Wirachchaya Chanpuypetch, 2024. "Navigating Supply Chain Resilience: A Hybrid Approach to Agri-Food Supplier Selection," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-42, May.
    12. Chimere O. Iheonu, 2019. "Governance and Domestic Investment in Africa," Working Papers 19/001, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    13. Rodríguez-Fuentes, Carlos Javier & Hernández-López, Montserrat, 1997. "Análisis de diferencias estructurales interregionales determinantes en el impacto de la política monetaria," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 7, pages 141-157, Junio.
    14. Asongu, Simplice & Tchamyou, Vanessa & Asongu, Ndemaze & Tchamyou, Nina, 2018. "The Comparative African Economics of Governance in Fighting Terrorism," MPRA Paper 92346, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Leiv Gabrielsen & Pål Ulleberg & Reidulf Watten, 2012. "The Adolescent Life Goal Profile Scale: Development of a New Scale for Measurements of Life Goals Among Young People," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1053-1072, December.
    16. Simplice A. Asongu & Rexon T. Nting & Joseph Nnanna, 2020. "Linkages between Globalisation, Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa," International Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(11), pages 949-963, August.
    17. Simplice A Asongu, 2013. "Modeling the future of knowledge economy: evidence from SSA and MENA countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 612-624.
    18. Megha Gupta & Suhasini Verma & Smita Pachare, 2023. "An analysis of Conventional and Alternative financing—Customers' perspective," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 2404-2414, July.
    19. Xiangfei Yuan & Haijing Hao & Chenghua Guan & Alex Pentland, 2022. "Which factors affect the performance of technology business incubators in China? An entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, January.
    20. Nihat Can Karabulut & Murat Ozen & Oruc Altintasi, 2024. "Understanding the Determinants of Lane Inefficiency at Fully Actuated Intersections: An Empirical Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-17, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:47-:d:1072097. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.