Research

Press Release

9^th November,2013

 Comparative studies on cyber bullying among adolescents in Hong Kong , Macao and GuangZhou.

 Researcher:        Mr. Wan Lap man, Chief Development Officer ,

Hong Kong Playground Association

Background: Cyber-bullying has emerged as a new form of bullying. This is a study which compares the nature and pattern of cyber-bullying among adolescents in Hong Kong, Macao and GuangZhou. A total of 2,460 adolescent were interviewed to collect information about their bullying experience and help seeking pattern. Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was applied to compare the psychological status among bullying observers, perpetrators and victims.

Results: Seventy-three percent of the respondents observed cyber-bullying incidences in the last year.  Sixty-three percent of them were being attacked. High overlapping rate between perpetrators and victims was observed. Significant gender differences were found among cyber victims. Age groups of high-school student were more likely to be the victims of cyber-bullying. Across samples from the 3 cities, cyber-bullying victims and perpetrators reported significantly higher level of depression, anxiety and stress level in the DASS results.

The places where bullying took place and the respondents’ help seeking behavior were compared across the three cities. Cyber-bullying  is anonymous and individualistic in nature. As a result, it mainly took place at home. However, because of the high mobile internet and smart phone penetration rate in these three cities, cyber-bullying also took place at different places such as schools and indoor recreation centres. Bullied adolescents preferred to seek help from their peers rather than teachers, social workers and parents.

Conclusions: Cyber-bullying becomes one of the most comment types of bullying among adolescents. The popularity of the smart phone and social media further spreads the negative impact to teenagers. The anonymous and individualistic nature of cyber-bullying imposes more difficulties for helping professionals and adults to identify and offer help to victims. Implications for practical helping initiatives and further research are needed.

Contact:  Mr.Wan lap man, lapman@hkpa.hk  (852)9229 8734

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