Intervention in cyberbullying : assessment of Ana's case

Abstract

The study had the following goals: (1) To assess the level of bullying/cyberbullying in a student with a high level of cybervictimization behaviors; (2) To implement a program to prevent/reduce cyberbullying "Cyberprogram 2.0"; and (3) To assess the effects of the program on the reduction of this adolescent's cybervictimization and other socio-emotional variables. The research design was a quasi-experimental single-case study. At the beginning of the school year, a pretest assessment was performed, applying the Cyberbullying test, a screening of peer harassment (Garaigordobil, 2013) with other instruments to measure different socio-emotional variables (social behavior, conflict-resolution strategies, self-esteem, empathy). Subsequently, we administered the Cyberprogram 2.0 (Garaigordobil y Martínez- Valderrey, 2014a) a group program that consists of one weekly one-hour intervention session for an entire school year. Finally, the posttest assessment was conducted by administering the same assessment battery as at pretest. Results showed that, after participating in the Cyberprogram 2.0, the cybervictimization behavior Ana suffered decreased significantly, as did her perception of physical, verbal, and ICT violence among her classmates, her premeditated aggressive behaviors, her social dominance behaviors, and the use of aggressive strategies as a conflict resolution technique. In addition, Ana increased her selfesteem, the use of cooperative conflict resolution strategies, and her level of empathy. The study shows the effectiveness of a group intervention program to reduce peer violence.