Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior
Open Access

Research Article

Cyber-victimization among Children: Prevalence, Characteristics, Gender Differences and Links to Social Difficulties

Psychology & Education Department, The Open University of Israel, Israel

*Corresponding Author:

Dorit Olenik-Shemesh
Psychology & Education Department
The Open University of Israel, Israel
Tel: 972-544-508787
E-mail: doritol@openu.ac.il

Received Date: Mar 10, 2017; Accepted Date: Mar 29, 2017; Published Date: Apr 07, 2017

Citation: Olenik-Shemesh D, Heiman T, Zuaretz-Hannan M (2017) Cyber-victimization among Children: Prevalence, Characteristics, Gender Differences and Links to Social Difficulties. J Child Adolesc Behav 5: 339. doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000339

Copyright: © 2017 Olenik-Shemesh D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Objective:The current study presents an updated initial picture of the nature of Cyberbullying (CB) among children in Israel. The study examined CB as it is manifested among primaryits prevalence, characteristics and gender differences, against the backdrop of traditional bullying. Methods: The study involved 242 pupils (54.1% girls). Data was gathered through questionnaires which were distributed to the participants, 4th and 5th grade pupils, from ten classes in two municipal primary schools located in the central region of Israel. Results:The research findings show that CB exists in Israel among young children: 15.8% of the children reported being cyber-victims and 31.7% reported knowing cyber-victims. The percentage of girl cyber-victims was higher than that of boys.It was found that children who had been bullied face-to-face were likely to be cyberbullied as well. The findings indicate a significant correlation between the frequency of internet usage and cybervictimization, and between CB and traditional bullying. Children who were cyber-victims reported having lower social support and a greater sense of loneliness than non-victims. Conclusion:The findings indicate the need to design and implement intervention programs focusing on the social aspect, in these early stages, along with treatment programs for young cyber-victims in order The tender age of children involved in cyberbullying suggests the need to involve parents and teachers in the programs' design.

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