Just as Violent: Cyberbullying and In‑Person Violence Compared Among Arab Youth in Israel

• In Event: Poster Session 1

Abstract

The study examined similarities and differences between adolescent involvement in cyberbullying and in-person violence
from a socio-ecological perspective. It explored the associations between individual:gender, age, religiosity, and impulsivity,
family (parental support, monitoring, and conflict), and contextual factors (commitment to school, affiliation with delinquent
peers and exposure to community violence), on the one hand, and four types of violence: cyberbullying and three subtypes of
in-person violence—severe and moderate physical violence and indirect violence—on the other. The sample included 3178
Arab students in grades 7–11 in Israel, who completed a structured survey. “In-person bullying” or face-to-face violence
was found to be significantly and positively associated with involvement in cyberbullying, and both bullying behaviors were
found to share common predictors. Of the four types of violence, involvement in severe physical violence and cyberbullying
and was the lower (28.4% and 14.1% and of students, respectively), with significantly higher rates for indirect and moderate
violence (65.7% and 47.3%, respectively). The general trend found in the study was one of similarities between cyberbullying
and in-person violence, especially of the severe physical type. We conclude that protecting youth against involvement in
violent acts can be most effectively achieved by buffering the impact of situational and personal risk factors

Authors

• Lana Jamal Jeries, University of Cambridge

• Mona Khoury, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem