Project team members:

• Prof. Neven Ricijaš, PhD
• Assoc. Prof. Dora Dodig Hundrić, PhD
• Sabina Mandić, PhD, senior assistant
• Andrea Ćosić, PhD, senior assistant
• Sanja Radić Bursać, prof. soc. ped.

Associates:

• Assoc. Prof. Ivana Vrselja, PhD

Previous research in this field has primarily focused on individual or social factors, or on specific aspects of the digital context that contribute to electronic violence. There is a lack of comprehensive studies examining the relative contributions of different factors. The socio-ecological model of cyberbullying (Patel & Quan-Haase, 2024) is a new theoretical framework that enables the planning and implementation of such comprehensive research, but it has not yet been systematically tested. This model highlights groups of different factors that affect cyberbullying among students and may also have certain interaction effects on its occurrence. The aim of this study is, within the framework of the socio-ecological model, to examine the contributions of individual and social factors, as well as characteristics of the digital context, in explaining the occurrence of cyberbullying, and to explore its effects on the mental health of primary and secondary school students. To achieve the project goals, a mixed-methods research approach is planned, involving three studies. In the first year, (1) a quantitative study will be conducted to develop and validate a scale for measuring perceptions of the digital context that fosters cyberbullying. In addition, (2) a qualitative study will explore how students perceive and describe the factors contributing to cyberbullying. In the second year, (3) a longitudinal study will begin, with three measurement points spaced one year apart, to determine how factors from the socio-ecological model explain cyberbullying and how it contributes to students’ mental health.