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Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.

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Psicothema, 2012. Vol. Vol. 24 (nº 4). 614-620




Predicting adolescent perpetration in cyberbullying: An application of the theory of planned behavior

Wannes Heirman and Michel Walrave

University of Antwerp (Belgium)

This study aims to contribute to the research field on cyberbullying by offering a comprehensive theoretical framework that helps to predict adolescents’ perpetration of cyberbullying. One thousand forty-two pupils from 12 to 18 years old in 30 different Belgian secondary schools participated in two surveys within a three-month interval. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether the overall model of theory of planned behavior (TPB) helps to predict adolescents’ self-reported perpetration in cyberbullying. Overall, the present study provides strong support for the theoretical utility of the TPB in cyberbullying research. The model accounted for 44.8% of the variance in adolescents’ behavioral intention to cyberbully and 33.2% of the variance in self-reported cyberbullying perpetration. We found a strong positive relationship between adolescents’ attitude towards cyberbullying and their behavioral intention to perpetrate it. Perceived behavioral control and subjective norm, the other two TPB-constructs, were also significant albeit relatively less important predictors of adolescents’ intention to cyberbully. The finding that adolescents’ attitude is the most important predictor of perpetration, entails that prevention and intervention strategies should aim at reducing the perceived acceptability of cyberbullying among adolescents by converting neutral or positive attitudes towards this anti-social behavior into negative evaluations.

Cómo predecir la perpetración adolescente del ciberacoso escolar: aplicación de la Teoría de la Conducta Planificada.El objetivo de este estudio es contribuir al campo de investigación del ciberacoso escolar mediante un marco teórico exhaustivo que ayude a predecir la perpetración del ciberacoso escolar en adolescentes. Participaron 1.042 alumnos con edades comprendidas entre los 12 y los 18 años de treinta escuelas belgas de Educación Secundaria diferentes en dos encuestas autoadministradas en un intervalo de tres meses. Se utilizaron modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para probar si el modelo general de la Teoría de la Conducta Planificada (TCP) ayuda a predecir la perpetración del ciberacoso escolar de los adolescentes obtenida por autoinforme. En general, el presente estudio confirma firmemente la utilidad teórica de la TCP en la investigación del ciberacoso escolar. El modelo representa el 44,8% de la varianza de la intención conductual del ciberacoso escolar en adolescentes y el 33,2% de perpetración del ciberacoso escolar obtenida por autoinforme. Encontramos una fuerte relación positiva entre la actitud de los adolescentes hacia el ciberacoso escolar y su intención de perpetrarlo. La norma subjetiva y el control conductual percibido, los otros dos constructos de la TCP, fueron también predictores significativos de la intención de los adolescentes, aunque contribuyeron significativamente menos en varianza explicada.

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