The Journal of Early Adolescence

Bystanders’ responses play an important role in cyberaggression incidents among youth. This study examines factors differentiating cyberbystander roles as defenders or outsiders. Individual factors (gender, age, self-efficacy, and digital skills), social factors (parent, teacher, and peer mediation), contextual factors (victim’s age relative to the bystander, perceived victim’s emotional (upset) response, and bystander-victim relationship quality), and types of incident modalities are explored. Data from 736 Czech adolescents (M _age = 14.4 years, SD _age = 1.69, 51.9% boys) who acted as defenders or outsiders in cyberaggression incidents in the preceding year were analyzed using hierarchical binary logistic regression. Being a defender versus an outsider was significantly associated with younger age, active peer mediation, good relationship with the victim, higher perceived victim’s emotional (upset) response, and no video modality. The study underscores the multifaceted nature of online bystander behavior, offering insights for prevention and intervention targeting specific factors to promote defending behavior in adolescent cyberaggression.

Early adolescence is a critical period for habit formation and trust development, with increased engagement in online video platforms raising privacy concerns. However, these aspects are not adequately considered in studies regarding willingness to disclose personal data online. This cross-sectional study surveyed 321 Chinese early adolescents to explore levels of willingness to disclose personal data to online video platforms and related privacy factors (perceived risks, utilitarian benefits, hedonic benefits, habits, and trust), examine demographical (age, gender, and grade) differences, and explore privacy factors associated with willingness to disclose personal data. Participants reported significantly lower willingness to disclose personal data, trust, and habits than risks and benefits. Significant differences were observed in all factors between grades. Participants’ willingness to disclose personal data was significantly associated with their trust and habits. We discussed possible explanations for findings and recommended strategies to promote responsible habits and informed trust among early adolescents in online video platforms.

This study examines whether sex moderates the relationship between peer delinquency and participant delinquency as mediated by moral neutralization. Participants for this study were 2209 early adolescent youth (1053 boys and 1156 girls) from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) study. In the current moderated mediation analysis, peer delinquency served as the independent variable, moral neutralization served as the mediating variable, delinquency variety served as the dependent variable, and sex acted as a moderating variable. Results showed that the peer influence effect (peer delinquency → moral neutralization → delinquency variety), while significant in both boys and girls, was stronger in girls than in boys. This provides further evidence that sex is capable of moderating important criminological relationships and that a fine-tuned analysis of crime and delinquency requires that we investigate potentially important sex differences in criminological constructs and the theories upon which they are based.

The present study is designed to identify the consequences of losing friends, gaining friends, and being friendless. Participants were public primary and middle school students (ages 8–14 years, M_age = 11.35, SD _age = 1.41) in Florida and Lithuania (481 boys). Participants completed friend and peer reputation nominations twice during an academic year (fall and spring semesters), with friendships defined by reciprocated nominations. Six friend change groups were identified: Net friend loss-became friendless (n = 69), net friend loss-remained friended (n = 255), net friend gain-initially friendless (n = 90), net friend gain-initially friended (n = 242), no change in number of friends (n = 269), and chronically friendless (n = 46). Among those who lost friends but remained friended, academic achievement and perceptions of being fun decreased; relational aggression increased for those who became friendless. Among those who gained friends and were initially friendless, perceptions of being fun increased; academic achievement and perceptions of being fun increased for those who were initially friended.

Transitioning to adolescence in the digital age creates both opportunities and challenges for early adolescents, who are at risk for cyberbullying. Parents and youths report perceived incompetence in dealing with cyberbullying; however, most past studies reflect mixed findings on cross-sectional relationships between restrictive media parenting and adolescent cyberbullying. The current study aims to explore longitudinal connections between restrictive media parenting and cyberbullying attitudes and behaviors in early adolescents during the pandemic. Youth reports of perceived restrictive media parenting, cyberbullying attitudes, and cyberbullying behaviors were extracted from a three-wave sample collected through an online longitudinal survey from 2019 to 2021 across the US (N = 288, M_age = 11.81, 50.2% girls). Structural equation modeling path analysis showed that T1 cyberbullying predicted more T2 perceived restrictive media parenting, which then predicted less T3 cyberbullying. Parents utilize restrictive media parenting strategies in response to existing youth cyberbullying behaviors, predicting reduced cyberbullying in the future.