THE EFFECTS OF CYBERBULLYING TO STUDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH

FERNANDEZ, JUSTINE REY

PAGAS, ROXY BLOOM

ESMERALDA, JAYVEE

NAMBATAC, DEXTER

CANOY, RIA RICHEL

LACIA, JAYCELYN

SALUD, ROSEL

A STUDY SUBMITTED TO MR. IANMARK ARCILLAS, FACULTY,

LOYOLA HIGH SCHOOL

FOR THE SUBJECT PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1

MAY 2023
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

The evolution of technology nowadays increased social interactions that have a

negative consequence, known as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that
involves the use of electronics devices to threaten, or harm someone. Cyberbullying can
take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and it takes many forms,
such as sending abusive message, spreading rumors or gossip, or sharing embarrassing
photos or videos.

As people become more familiarized with and exposed to social media, the opportunity
to cyberbully increases. Social media platforms that allow free and open commenting can
become a very fearful environment for cyberbullying victims, where threats, aggressive,
demotivating, or offensive comments or messages, or edited pictures or videos, can be
made and shared outside of the victim's control before they have chance to respond.

Students who are victims of cyberbullying may experience depression, anxiety, low self-
esteem, and social withdrawal. They may also have difficulty of sleeping, eating, and
concentrating, and may even have suicidal thoughts or engage in self-harm. Cyberbullying
may also limit the students' academic Performance and cause higher absenteeism rates.
Cyberbullying is influenced by age, sex, parent–child relationships, and time spent on the
Internet. Although some studies have found that cyberbullying continues to increase in late
adolescence, others found that cyberbullying tends to peak at 14 and 15 years old before
decreasing through the remaining years of adolescence.

Unlike traditional Bullying, which usually occurs in school and is mitigated at home,
victims of cyberbullying can be contacted anytime and anywhere. Parents and teachers are
seen as saviors in cases of traditional Bullying. Simultaneously, in cyberbullying, children
tend to be reluctant to tell adults for fear of losing access to their phones and computers, so
they usually hide the cyberbullying incident.

Loyola School of Don Carlos, Inc., despite being the premiere institution of the
Bukidnon Association of Catholic Schools, Inc. has encountered many problems, specifically
cyberbullying. Our study will assess the responses of students towards cyberbullying and its
impact to students’ mental health.
 Statement of the Problem

Generally, this study aims to determine the effects of cyberbullying towards students’
mental health.

Specifically, this sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is cyberbullying?
2. How do students respond to the threats of cyberbullying?
3. What is the impact of cyberbullying towards the students’ mental health?

Objective of the Study

This study generally aims to determine the effects of cyberbullying to students’

mental condition.

Specifically, it sought to:

1. Know what is cyberbullying;

2. Determine the responses of students towards cyberbullying; and
3. Assess the impact of cyberbullying to students’ mental health

Significance of the Study

Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that takes place online, and it can have
serious negative consequences for the mental health of students. This study can help
raise awareness about the negative impact of cyberbullying on students' mental
health and identify risk factors and warning signs, and develop effective prevention
and intervention strategies. It can help parents, and teachers to understand the
seriousness of the issue and take appropriate measures to prevent cyberbullying.

This study can help identify the specific ways in which cyberbullying affects
students' mental health and the factors that contribute to this impact. By
understanding the mechanisms behind the negative effects of cyberbullying,
researchers can develop more targeted and effective interventions to support
students who have experienced cyberbullying. This study believed to benefits the
following:

Students. This will be a guide to get information about the cyberbullying and to gain
more lessons about the study.
 Parents. This will be their guide to look upon their son/daughter who are victim of
cyberbullying and to give them information about cyberbullying.

Teachers. This study will aid them in their discussion regarding related lessons. It will
be easier for them to tackle related topics about this research.

The future researchers. With all the data gathered, they can use this study as their
guide to widen their knowledge and basis of the future researchers in their study about the
cyberbullying.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This study is primary focus on the effects of cyberbullying to students’ mental condition
during the advancements of technology.
This study will be conducted among the Grade 12 GAS students of Loyola School of
Don Carlos, Inc. located in Don Carlos, Bukidnon during the first semester, Academic Year
2023-2024
This study will mainly identify and assess the different factors of cyberbullying that can
affect the students’ mental health. Furthermore, this utilized the quantitative study to collect
data about the prevalence of cyberbullying and the impact to those who experienced it.

Definition of terms
For better understanding of the study, the following terms are defined operationally:
Bullying. Is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and
repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort.
Cyberbullying. Is a type of bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take
place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones.
Cyberviolence. Is defined as online behaviors that criminally or non-criminally assault,
or can lead to assault, of a person's physical, psychological or emotional well-being.
Nomophobia. is the fear of being out of cellphone contact.
 CHAPTER 2

Review of Related Literature

According to Nixon (2014) cyberbullying has become an international public health
concern among adolescents, and as such, it deserves further study. Adolescents in the
United States culture are moving from using the Internet as an “extra” in everyday
communication (cyber utilization) to using it as a “primary and necessary” mode of
communication (cyber immersion). In fact, 95% of adolescents are connected to the Internet.
In the study of Mason (2008) because of the advent and growth of technology, a new
variation of bullying—cyberbullying—has transformed from the physical to the virtual.
Cyberbullying is a form of psychological cruelty. Although cyberbullying usually occurs off
school grounds, schools are experiencing its repercussions (Li, 2006). This shift from face-
to-face communication to online communication has created a unique and potentially
harmful dynamic for social relationships – a dynamic that has recently been explored in the
literature as cyberbullying and Internet harassment. In general, cyberbullying involves
hurting someone else using information and communication technologies. This may include
sending harassing messages (via text or Internet), posting disparaging comments on a
social networking site, posting humiliating pictures, or threatening/intimidating someone
electronically.

According to (Molina, et. Al, 2022) traditional bullying and cyberbullying are linked to
adverse mental health outcomes. Student connectedness has been recently identified as a
potential protective factor in these relationships. Nonetheless, the multilevel nature of these
interactions has been frequently overlooked. The present study pretends to fill this gap by
exploring the associations between individual levels of bullying and cyberbullying and three
adjustment outcomes (i.e., suicidal behavior, symptoms of depression, and self-esteem), as
well as the moderating role of the school level of student connectedness on these
relationships.

Cyberbullying has become biggest problem for the youth especially on Facebook,
Instagram and TikTok where you can post pictures and videos. Cyberbullying has been
prevailing in the world for a long time and it is growing day-by-day. Harassing over the
phone, on social media application verbally is common nowadays and suicide has become
more convenient way to get rid of it. A study by (Guial et al.,2020) cyberbullying affects
kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) students as follows: negative affects mental and physical
health, academic performance, school-related well-being, and interpersonal relationships.
Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through
adulthood.

Loyola School of Don Carlos, Inc. where we will be conducting our research study, has
recorded many cases of cyberbullying particularly in S.Y. 2023-2024. According to Cercado
(2023), cyberbullying is one of the alarming cases of problems encountered by the students.

According to Statista (2016), in 2014, about 60% of the world’s population already owned
a mobile phone and it predicted that in 2017 this number would reach 4.77 billion. In another
report, Skiba (2014) estimates that 79% of young adults aged 18–24 years have
smartphones that allow them to connect to the Internet. The growing increase in the use of
laptop computers, tablets and smartphones has made cyberbullying a global problem
(Campbell 2005). In a study on 18 000 people from 24 countries, including Argentina,
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea,
Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the USA, 80% of the participants found cyberbullying a serious
problem (Reuters 2012). NoBully.com (2016) reported that over 1.1 million people visited
their site in just 1 month in March 2016 to seek help to deal with cyberbullying. The
Cyberbullying Research Center (2016) warned that of the over 80% of teenagers who use a
cell phone regularly, about 50% have experienced some form of cyberbullying, while 20% of
them experienced it regularly.

Research has shown that cyberbullying can have extensive negative impacts on the
victims and leave them with devastating scars. For example, Gordon (2016) found that
teenage victims of cyberbullying experience anxiety, fear, depression, low self-esteem,
resulting in feeling overwhelmed, vulnerable, powerless, revengeful, exposed, humiliated,
isolated and losing interest in schooling and life. In some extreme cases it has even caused
mental problems, social isolation and suicidal thoughts (Deschamps & McNutt 2016).

According to Nikolaou (2017) even though both traditional and electronic bullying are
detrimental to students, there are concerns that cyberbullying may be even more severe due
to easier and faster transmission of the harassing behaviors through the internet. Accessing
the internet has become ubiquitous; by 2006, 95% of youth had access to the internet, with
74% able to access it through a mobile device (Madden et al., 2013). With more prevalent
access to the internet, the effort required to engage in cyberbullying decreases, which can
partly explain the increase in cyberbullying rates from 18.8% in 2007 to 34% in 2016
(Patchin and Hinduja, 2016). To curtail this trend, several states have introduced
cyberbullying policies which impose higher costs to cyberbullying perpetrators, especially
after recent incidents linking cyberbullying with youth fatal suicides (see the cases of Ryan
Halligan (2003), Megan Meier (2006), Jessica Logan (2008), Hope Witsell (2009), Tyler
Clementi (2010), Amanda Todd (2012)).

Few researchers have investigated the mechanisms of how cyberbullying affects

depression in bullies, or sought to identify the influences, mediators, or moderators. Such an
investigation is therefore necessary in order to understand the relationship between the
perpetration of cyberbullying and mental health, and the underlying mechanisms that link the
two. Most of the research on cyberbullying has focused on the cyberbullying behavior of
middle and high school students (Cassidy et al., 2013), whereas only a smaller number have
been conducted on college students. Individuals undergo tremendous physical and social
changes during adolescence (Li, 2007), and some researchers have found that bullying
behavior reaches a peak and begins to decline (Francisco et al., 2015). However, other
researchers have suggested that aggression does not decrease over time but transforms
into different types which depend on the individual's abilities (Björkqvist et al., 1992). An
individual's behavior will change from direct physical aggression to direct verbal aggression,
and finally to indirect aggression that harms others through social networks (Björkqvist et al.,
1992). Studies have also found that as age increases, the incidence and frequency of
cyberbullying increase (Ybarra and Mitchell, 2004, Ybarra and Mitchell, 2007).

Previous studies on cyberbullying among college students have found that the prevalence
rates of cyberbullying are about 10%–15% (Hempbill et al., 2012). However, some studies
have found that the incidence rates are higher (Gibb and Devereux, 2014). Due to changes
in use and behavioral patterns among the youth on social media, the manifestations and risk
factors of cyberbullying have faced significant transformation. Further, as the boundaries of
cyberbullying are not limited by geography, cyberbullying may not be a problem contained
within a single country. In this sense, cyberbullying is a global problem and tackling it
requires greater international collaboration. The adverse effects caused by cyberbullying,
including reduced safety, lower educational attainment, poorer mental health and greater
unhappiness, led UNICEF to state that “no child is absolutely safe in the digital world”.

Extant research has examined the prevalence and risk factors of cyberbullying to unravel
the complexity of cyberbullying across different countries and their corresponding causes.
However, due to variations in cyberbullying measurement and methodologies, no consistent
conclusions have been drawn. Studies into inconsistencies in prevalence rates of
cyberbullying, measured in the same country during the same time period, occur frequently.
Selkie et al. systematically reviewed cyberbullying among American middle and high school
students aged 10–19 years old in 2015, and revealed that the prevalence of cyberbullying
victimization ranged from 3 to 72%, while perpetration ranged from 1 to 41%. Risk and
protective factors have also been broadly studied, but confirmation is still needed of those
factors which have more significant effects on cyberbullying among young people.
Clarification of these issues would be useful to allow further research to recognize
cyberbullying more accurately.

Cyberbullying, as such, does not involve personal contact between the aggressor and the
victim, but it is psychologically (emotionally) harmful for the victim. Its impact has been
demonstrated by numerous investigations carried out, both in Europe and beyond. Some
researchers (Gradinger et al., 2010) pointed out that victims of cyberbullying (children,
adults) suffer from social problems, behavioural problems, low self-esteem, loneliness, etc.
Other researchers have pointed out that up to 8% of victims of cyberbullying considered
suicide (Hinduja and Patchin, 2010), the victims refused to go to school or have been
regularly sick.

Moreover, adolescence is a period of turmoil. The youth seek out their peers who help
them define their identity and adapt while entering adulthood. Being an adolescent is
complicated; they need to fit in their environment and define their role optimally as part of
their identity development. Berk (2010) stated that during their development, adolescent
males and females have different coping styles. For example, adolescent males exhibit a
lower range of emotional relationships, tend to be more self-assured, and are willing to
explore their surrounding more deeply and confidently; on the other hand, adolescent
females show more neuroticism, more friendliness, and try to be more pleasurable. On the
contrary, both genders show concern about their self-image, particularly when it comes to
the issue of peer acceptance and relationships, but girls are more concerned about being
lean/tender while boys are concerned about being muscular (Pauletti and Perry, 2011). A
sense of belongingness is also critical during this early adolescence period; therefore, it is
often detected that teenagers, both male and female, take to and indulge themselves in
high-risk behaviors, especially when their peers encourage and support these actions
(Guerra et al., 2012). Therefore, performing a risky behaviour is more common among
adolescents, especially due to either lack of rational decision-making, the feeling of inferiority
towards others, increasing self-conscious, the complicated needs of peer acceptance and
low understanding of one’s environment (Steinberg, 2007; Nixon, 2014; Lakon et al., 2015).
As a result, it makes it easier for them to join in delinquency and risk-taking acts that are
potentially harmful, such as self-hurting, suicidal thoughts and attempt, alcohol consumption,
and cigarette smoking.
 There are several discrepancies regarding gender differences in cyberbullying studies
and its psychosocial relatedness problems; some results show that girls are more likely to be
cyberbullied, while other studies show no gender differences in this regard (Sourender, et
al., 2010; Navarro et al., 2011; Navarro & Jasinski, 2013). A study in Malawi in Southern
Africa showed that male adolescents who smoked cigarettes were three times more likely to
report being bullied compared to female smokers and non-smokers (Kubwalo et al., 2013).
Meanwhile, a study among college students found cyberbullying victims, especially females,
had an increased risk of performing self-harm behavior, while male bullies had an increased
risk of alcohol consumption (Selkie et al., 2015). Another study explained that cyberbullying
was also linked to suicidal ideation and attempted suicide; the study found that being
cyberbullied or being a cyberbully elevated the risk of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts,
and completed suicide equally for both female and male subjects (Hinduja and Patchin,
2010; Navarro et al., 2011; Navarro & Jasinski, 2013).

Some studies have been conducted on the problems related to the use of the ICTs
(Anderson, Steen et al., 2017; Gross, 2004; Kraut, Patterson et al., 1998) showing that side
effects could be various, from the communication of personal data to the display of violent or
sexual content up to priming in an offline context (Livingstone & Haddon, 2009). Among
these, nomophobia and cyber-bullying are of particular interest for their intrinsic relationship
with mental health and psychopathology, sleep problems, body image and for the potential
interplay between them (Rodgers, Melioli et al., 2013; Sachdeva, Arora et al., 2018;
Thomee, Harenstam et al., 2011).

The term nomophobia (a compound name derived from no mobile phone and phobia)
indicates the sense of discomfort, nervousness or anxiety linked to the impossibility of using
the mobile phone (or generally internet) or being off-line (King, Valenca et al. 2010, 2013). It
has been considered a potential disorder and it had been included in the debate for the new
diagnostic categories of the DSM-5, in a proposal to modify the phobia section (American
Psychiatric Association, 2013; Bragazzi & Del Puente, 2014).

A negative consequence deriving from the large use of new technologies is cyber-
bullying (Kowalski, Giumetti et al., 2014). It represents a form of aggression carried out in the
electronic context (e.g. web, blog, chat, phone, social media). Cyber and traditional bullying
(Olweus, 1993) are highly associated, both are intentional and repeated and happen in a
context of imbalance of power (Modecki, Minchin et al., 2014). There are many reports that
highlighted those subjects involved in cyber-bullying experienced also traditional bullying
(Hinduja & Patchin, 2010; Przybylski & Bowes, 2017). Cyber-bullying did not produce new
victims, but it was conceived such as a phenomenon that involves those already suffering
traditional forms of bullying in a new form of victimization (Wolke, Lee et al., 2017). However,
it was also highlighted that traditional and cyber-bullying differentiates in many features,
showing that the main reasons for this difference are due to the peculiarity of the functioning
of virtual space (Kowalski, Giumetti et al., 2014). Unlike traditional social-interactive space,
the online communication presents high reproducibility, the permanence of contents and a
continuous accessibility (24/7) and partial anonymity; therefore, the electronic/virtual context
often conveys a sense of uncontrollability and lack of emotional reactivity.

There are several pieces of evidence that the nomophobia and cyber-bullying
phenomena are interconnected, and that the excessive use of electronic technological
devices could increase the risk of involvement in episodes of cyber-bullying. An increase in
time spent online could indirectly coincide with an increase in cyber-bullying behaviors (from
19% in 2007 to 34% in 2016) (Twenge, 2017). Secondly, the Net Children Go Mobile
Projects found that the level of traditional bullying was substantial stable whereas cyber-
bullying is increasing and associated with the internet use (O'Neill & Dinh, 2015). Moreover,
several studies on the relationship between the exposure to violent media content and the
risk of cyber-bullying perpetration, proposed a model in which victims of traditional bullying
try to cope with the harassment related anger looking at aggressive and violent media
content that predispose in turn to the onset of cyber-bullying perpetration (den Hamer, Konijn
et al., 2014; den Hamer & Konijn, 2015). In this regard, traditional victimization could be
considered such as a risk factor for an increase exposition to media content and, in turn, for
cyber-bullying perpetration.
 CHAPTER 3

Methodology

This chapter presents the overall methodology of the research study. It consists of the
research design, locale of the study, the participants, research instrumentation, data
gathering procedure and statistical treatment.

Research Design

This study will utilize a quantitative research design in order to identify the effects of
cyber bullying to students’ mental condition. A Quantitative research according to Pritha
(2020) is the process of collecting and analyzing numerical data.

Locale of the Study

The study will be conducted at Loyola School of Don Carlos, Inc School Year 2023-
2024. This school will serve as the primary setting for data collection and analysis. This
school was selected to know the effects of cyberbullying to student’s mental health.

This is a catholic that that was founded by an Italian Jesuit Missionary Fr. Venere.
Loyola School of Don Carlos has a population of 1446 for both elementary and high school.
The study will sample Junior High School and Senior High School students only.
Legend: Loyola School of Don Carlos, Inc.
Figure 1. The Map of Don Carlos Norte & Sur, Don Carlos, Bukidnon
 Participants and Sampling

The participants of this study will be Junior High School & Senior High School students
of Loyola High School of Don Carlos, Inc., Don Carlos, Bukidnon. We will select 30 random
students in different grade levels to be respondents in the study. The researchers will
purposively select this random student in all grade levels enrolled in the Academic Year
2023-2024 as participants of this study since they are the primary users of social media.

Instrumentation

This study will gather the data on the effects of cyberbullying to students’ mental
health through survey questionnaire. In-depth interview will be conducted with the random
selected students in different levels to know how does cyberbullying affects them and to
explore the impact of cyberbullying to students’ mental condition.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers will conduct the study in Loyola School of Don Carlos, Inc., in Don
Carlos, Bukidnon. The researchers will explain to the respondents the importance of their
participation in this study. The researcher will clarify some terms to the respondents so that
the respondents can answer the questionnaire with full knowledge of their responsibility as
the subject of the study. A letter of permission will be handed on to the school principal, Ms.
Lourdes Bernadette B. Ebdalin for the conduct of this study to the Junior and Senior High
School students of this institution. Afterwards, the researchers will be asking students to
become their respondents of the survey.
The researchers will be use Random Sampling Technique to select the respondents
per grade level, and gather data on the effects of cyberbullying to students’ mental health
with utmost confidentiality.
The researcher will use a random sampling, according to Zulueta and Costales, the
sampling units are selected randomly by the researcher. In this study, since the goal here is
to determine the effects of cyber bullying to student’s mental health, the researcher believes
that this method is the most appropriate in choosing the sample for the research.

Statistical Treatment Data

The following statistical tools will be used to interpret the data gather from the
respondents of the study. Simple percentage will be used to choose how many participants
will be in this study. Weighted mean will be used to compute the actual data gathered.
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https://ojs.aaresearchindex.com/index.php/aasgbcpjmra/article/view/2459