Factors Impacting Student Reporting Bullying or Cyberbullying to School Personnel

摘要

The purpose of this study was to examine if school personnel-student relationships (supportive teachers and adults at school) are associated with student reporting of bullying or cyberbullying incidents to school personnel after controlling for individual characteristics (sex, race, grade level, and academic achievement), seriousness of victimization (frequency, multiple victimization, fear, and avoidance), and school environment (school rule clarity and fairness, school guidelines on safety, and school neighborhood safety). Data for hierarchical binary logistic regression analyses were derived from the 2013 National Crime Victimization Survey School Crime Supplement. Sample included 12-18 year-old students who either experienced bullying or cyberbullying (N = 1,094). Results indicated that supportive school-personnel relationships with students are related to targets' reporting of victimization to school personnel in bullying but not in cyberbullying. Findings also confirmed associations between targets' reporting of victimization to teachers or other adults at schools and grade level, academic achievement, multiple victimization, and avoidance behaviors. In the context of cyberbullying, significant associations between targets' reporting of victimization and both sex and frequency of victimization were found. Employing a rational choice framework and social-ecological model, findings of this study enhanced the general understanding of the individual and environmental factors related to targets' reporting behavior. The results of this study provided implications for practices in schools, school personnel training in higher education, and policy enactment. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research were also discussed.