Latent growth curve modeling between victimization and cyberbullying in Argentinean adolescents

SANTIAGO RESETT

Atenas

Conferencia; XIX Biennal Conference of the European Association for Developmental Psychology; 2019

European Association for Developmental Psychology

The development of new information and communication technologies gave rise to cybervictimization. Cybervictimization is a repeated aggression of which the victim cannot defend himself, but through new technologies. However, it has characteristics that victimization does not have: it extends beyond the school space, a greater audience, among others. With regard to the different trajectories in relation to victimization and cybervictimization, results suggested different trajectories: non-victimized groups, stable groups over time and groups that increased their level of victimization. In the Latin American nations, studies are non-existent in this respect. So, the purpose of this research was examining stability or change of victimization and cybervictimization in adolescents in three-time points from a latent growth curve modeling. To this end, data were obtained from a sample of 498 students (55% males, mean age = 15.4) from two secondary schools attending first course, second and third in Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. They completed Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire for victimizacion and Calvete et al. Cyberbullying Questionnaire for cybervictimization. Results: 5%, 4% and 4% were victimized in both ways; while 23%, 22% and 21% were victimized and 10%, 7% and 8% were cybervictimized. A model of the latent curve with the three victimization scores and the three cybervictimization scores showed an adequate fit CFI = .98 TLI = .95 RMSEA = .08. The results indicated a significant association between the intercepts of both behaviors, as well as an increase of them in the three times. However, these variables did not co-vary with each other over time. These results are in line with a vast literature that suggests a low overlap between both behaviors, suggesting that although both behaviors are related, they are different characteristic phenomena. That the victimization and cybervictimization scores tend to increase over time can be understood through the victim's model.