Cyberbullicide – the relationship between cyberbullying and suicide among youth
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Loading ...One major outcome that we have seen in recent years has been the increase in suicides related to an experience with bullying. As a point of reference, in 2004, suicide was the third-leading cause of deaths among those between the ages of 10 and 24. Even though suicide rates have decreased 28.5 percent between 1990 and 2004 among this age group, upward trends were identified in the 10- to 19-year-old age group in 2003-2004 (the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Though research involving traditional bullying and suicide is plentiful, empirical research involving cyberbullying and suicide is sparse.
We just got word that a research paper we submitted to the journal Archives of Suicide Research has just been accepted for publication. Its general focus is the phenomenon of cyberbullicide, which we define as “suicide indirectly or directly influenced by experiences with online aggression” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009). We’ll be posting a new fact sheet summarizing the research soon, but it details the empirical link we have uncovered between suicidal thoughts/actions and online victimization.
In our quantitative study, we found that youth who experienced traditional bullying or cyberbullying, as either an offender or a victim, scored higher on a well-validated suicidal ideation scale than those who had not experienced those two forms of peer aggression. Moreover, bullying and cyberbullying victimization was a stronger predictor of suicidal thoughts and behaviors than bullying and cyberbullying offending.
We also found that traditional bullying victims were 1.7 times more likely and traditional bullying offenders were 2.1 times more likely to have attempted suicide than those who were not traditional victims or offenders. Similarly, cyberbullying victims were 1.9 times more likely and cyberbullying offenders were 1.5 times more likely to have attempted suicide than those who were not cyberbullying victims or offenders.
My next post will offer some policy and programming suggestions to address this problem. Even though cyberbullicide occurs quite rarely, it still merits purposed and informed prevention and response efforts.
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November 15th, 2009 at 4:11 am
I was bullied as a child in school and as an adult over the internet. I have found that once a bully finds a weakness in someone they will continue to hurt that person. What children need to understand is that people that bully are cowards and truly hate themselves so they hurt others to make them feel the same way they do. I am trying to get Alabama to make laws about the internet for our adults and children. If you are being bullied, “Just don’t hurt yourself” they just get what they want if you do.
November 16th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Thank you for your continual work in this area. I would love to get a copy of this article and learn more.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
While I do not endorse bullying – it was the worst part of my growing-up and came at me from parents, the internet and traditionally at school – I have to say that it made me stronger.
I never considered killing myself although I did occasionally entertain thoughts of hurting my bullies. It amazes me that anyone would do their bully’s job for them.
December 1st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I think bullies might cause physical damage, so just ignore it as it never exist.
December 1st, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I think bullies might cause physical damage, so just ignore it as it never exist. Another thing don’t show sadness or lack of confidence because they just want you to feel bad, so show them you really don’t care! I hope this one could help.
December 7th, 2009 at 2:37 am
wow people killing themselfs over the internet isnt it easier just too block and send a virus down there ip or just own your own private website sheesh sucide over the internet is plain stupid for all the offender knows i could be the price of dubai lol
December 7th, 2009 at 10:35 am
omgg this is so insane ,many ppl get bullied and its real life some ppl need to just block them,tell,and just ignore it!!!
ive been doing research as just and its just so sad and upsetting.
December 13th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Cyber bullying is awful!! I wish more parents and teachers were aware of cyber bullying and how it can affect children. I think if we as parents talk about this subject with our children to help them understand what to do in this case if cyber bullying were to happen to them. We need to let our children know that they need to either block or delete the bully and not to let what they said get to them even though it could have ben hurftul and mean. We need to tell our children that we need to love everyone even if they are mean and hateful towards us. If our children still have good attitudes about people that are not so nice it will help them to cope with the mean and nasty people in the world. Cyber bullying can be avoided if we monitor what our children do and who they talk to. If you notice that your child seems very upset after using the computer or texting a lot you need to find out why and take the time to get to the bottom of it.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:10 pm
This is awful! IT HAS TO STOP!
March 27th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
i’m doing a paper on cyber bullying………i never knew what it meant until now………
April 4th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
i want to know how many cyberbullicide occur in a year ~
April 15th, 2010 at 11:01 am
April 19th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
i am doinq a paper as well on cyber bullying and suicide and i think the way media and people including schools are handling this situation with these poors kids are ridiculous. this paper and all the research i being doing has made me frustrated and angry
May 11th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
i am doing a paper on cyber bullying and the effects…. this is going to be one of the main points in my paper… suicide
July 12th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Cyber bullying is a horrific tragedy. It happens not only in the Us but around the world everyday. Adults and adolescents alike need to become educated about the cyber-bullying epidemic. The fact that kids are killing themselves over it is disgusting and it needs to be stopped. I found this article on http://www.textkills.com/ it goes straight to the heart of the issue.