Bullying and Cyberbullying in School: Rapid Review on the Roles of Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Self-Regulation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Type
2.2. Guiding Question
2.3. Search Strategies
2.4. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
2.5. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Constitution and Characteristics of the Reviewed Corpus
3.2. Primary Outcomes Reported in the Studies
3.3. Interpretative Synthesis
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Databases | Strategies |
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Web of Science | Cross-terms: gratitude AND bullying; forgiveness AND bullying; self-regulation AND bullying. Limits: All Fields; Publication Years: 2023 OR 2022 OR 2021 OR 2020 OR 2019; Document Types: Articles; Languages: English [there were no texts in other languages]. |
Scopus | Cross-terms: gratitude AND bullying; forgiveness AND bullying; self-regulation AND bullying. Limits: All Fields; Publication Years: 2023 OR 2022 OR 2021 OR 2020 OR 2019; Document Types: Articles; Languages: English OR Spanish OR Portuguese. |
Scielo | Cross-terms [in Portuguese]: gratidão AND bullying; perdão AND bullying; autorregulação AND bullying. Limits: All Files; By Subject; No Time Limitations. |
Reference | Country | Objective | Variables of Interest | Participants/Samples | Main Results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
[15] | Spain | Examine the relationships between gratitude, emotional intelligence, and cyber aggression. | Gratitude, emotional intelligence, and cyberbullying | 1157 adolescents (girls = 54.4%) aged between 12 and 18 years (average age 13.78 years; SD = 1.33) | The findings highlight significant and negative correlations between cyber aggression and gratitude, as well as dimensions of emotional intelligence. Gratitude and emotional intelligence dimensions also show positive correlations. The results strongly support gratitude’s role as a significant mediator in the relationship between emotional intelligence dimensions and cyber aggression, explaining partially or entirely how emotional intelligence dimensions affect cyber aggression behavior. |
[16] | China | Investigate the roles of mindfulness and gratitude in the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression among children and adolescents. | Gratitude, mindfulness, and cyberbullying | 1298 students (boys = 51.2%) aged between 9 and 16 years (average age 13.57 years; SD = 1.27) | Practicing cyberbullying is associated with increased depression levels, and students engaging in cyberbullying are less likely to be attentive and mindful of their actions and thoughts in the present moment (lower mindfulness). Gratitude or feeling thankful does not influence a student’s involvement in cyberbullying. Mindfulness and gratitude mediate the perpetration of cyberbullying and depression. |
[17] | Turkey | Analyze how forgiveness and coping behaviors in cyberbullying function together as two mediators in a series of mediation models in a sample of Turkish adolescents. | Forgiveness, well-being, and cyberbullying | 337 adolescents (boys = 50.1%) aged between 14 and 19 years (average age = 16.56 years). | There is a significant negative relationship between cyber victimization and well-being: as cyber victimization increases, students’ well-being decreases. A moderate, positive, and significant relationship exists between well-being and forgiveness, indicating that higher forgiveness levels are associated with better well-being. Adolescents who reported being able to forgive or had effective strategies to deal with cyberbullying showed higher well-being despite victimization. |
[18] | Spain | Study the relationship between character strengths (forgiveness and gratitude), happiness, and pro-social behavior in bullying bystanders. | Forgiveness, gratitude, happiness, pro-social behavior, and bullying | 1000 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years (average age 14.70; SD = 1.58) | A significant positive correlation is found between gratitude, forgiveness, happiness, and pro-social behavior in bullying. Girls tend to report higher levels of gratitude, forgiveness, happiness, and pro-social behavior. According to an alternative statistical model, pro-social behavior positively influenced happiness and gratitude but not forgiveness. |
[19] | Mexico | Examine the direct and mediating relationships between forgiveness, gratitude, self-control, and proactive and reactive aggression in bullying. | Forgiveness, gratitude, self-control, and bullying | 1000 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years | Significant negative correlations were found between forgiveness, gratitude, self-control, and proactive and reactive aggression. Adolescents reporting higher levels of forgiveness, gratitude, and self-control were less likely to engage in proactive and reactive aggression. Boys demonstrated more reactive and proactive aggression and less gratitude than girls. |
[20] | Spain | Analyze the relationships between forgiveness, revenge motivations, avoidance, and benevolence; loneliness and subjective evaluations of social networks; and relational, physical, or verbal victimization based on gender. | Forgiveness, revenge motivations, avoidance, benevolence, loneliness, social network, and victimization | 617 adolescents (50.7% = boys) aged between 10 and 16 years (average age 13.04 years; SD = 1.80) | Adolescents with high levels of victimization showed a greater desire for revenge, increased avoidance motivation, higher emotional loneliness, and a more negative subjective evaluation of their social networks. Forgiveness-related characteristics, like the willingness to forgive or not, had a significant impact on adolescents’ experiences with peer victimization. |
[21] | China | Test a moderated mediation model of forgiveness and self-esteem concerning the association between peer victimization and subjective well-being. | Forgiveness, self-esteem, well-being, and victimization | 2758 adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years (average age 13.53 years; SD = 1.06) | The interaction between peer victimization and forgiveness in self-esteem was significant. For adolescents with low forgiveness (reactive), victimization had a significantly negative impact on self-esteem. For adolescents with high forgiveness (protective), the negative effect of victimization on self-esteem was even stronger. Regardless of forgiveness levels, peer victimization had a similar impact on subjective well-being. |
[14] | Peru | Evaluate, longitudinally, the effect of experiencing cybervictimization and other forms of traditional bullying simultaneously on life and school satisfaction. | Gratitude, life and school satisfaction, cyberbullying, and bullying | 221 adolescents; average age: 12.09 years (SD = 0.89) | Victims of cyberbullying who also experienced other forms of traditional bullying were more likely to have lower life satisfaction and school satisfaction compared to those who did not experience aggression. Students with high levels of gratitude maintained stable levels of life satisfaction, regardless of cyberbullying prevalence. |
[22] | Peru | Examine the roles of dispositional and situational moral emotions in bullying and pro-social behavior in adolescents. | Gratitude, compassion, moral development, pro-social behavior, and bullying | Two studies: 644 adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years (average age 15.6 years; SD = 1.4); 235 adolescents aged between 10 and 15 years (average age 12.5 years; SD = 0.9) | Gratitude and compassion were positively related to pro-social behavior towards victims, and adolescents more sensitive to acts of kindness tended to engage less in bullying behaviors. There was a statistically significant trend of increased willingness in adolescents to express gratitude and engage in pro-social behaviors. |
[23] | Spain | Investigate the mediating roles of stress and lack of forgiveness in the link between cybervictimization and cyberbullying aggression. | Forgiveness, stress, and cyberbullying | 979 adolescents (girls = 55.4%) aged between 12 and 18 years (average age 13.72; SD = 1.31) | Cybervictimization was significantly associated with stress and revenge motivation (less forgiveness). Cybervictimization did not lead adolescents to engage in avoidance behaviors (forgiveness) as a response. |
[24] | Spain | Explore the relationships between bullying victimization, gratitude, and suicide risk in a sample of adolescents; explore gender differences in the association between variables; determine if there is a significant interaction effect of victimization × gratitude in predicting suicide risk. | Gratitude, suicide, depression, and bullying victimization | 1617 adolescents (girls = 50.5%) aged between 12 and 17 years (average age 14.02 years; SD = 1.46) | Adolescents who were victims of bullying were more likely to experience depression symptoms or think/act suicidally. Victimized students tended to have fewer feelings of gratitude. Participants who reported higher gratitude had fewer depression symptoms and a lower likelihood of suicidal thoughts/behaviors. Girls who were victims of bullying and also had high levels of gratitude tended to experience fewer depressive symptoms compared to those with low levels of gratitude. |
[25] | Italy | Examine the mediating effect of dispositional forgiveness on the relationship between cybervictimization and cyberbullying, and explore the moderating effect of gender in this relationship. | Forgiveness and cyberbullying | 481 adolescents (boys = 52.4%) aged between 14 and 19 years (average age 17.2 years; SD = 1.5) | Girls reported higher levels of forgiveness and cybervictimization than boys, but both groups showed comparable levels of involvement in cyberbullying. Victimization has a negative influence on forgiveness disposition: as cybervictimization increases, the willingness to forgive decreases. Dispositional forgiveness negatively influences cyberbullying behavior, meaning higher forgiveness levels are associated with a lower likelihood of involvement in cyberbullying. Although cybervictimization is related to a lower willingness to forgive in both genders, this effect is more pronounced in male adolescents. |
[26] | Mexico | Investigate the relationship between guilt, sympathy, and aggressive defense intervention in cyberbullying situations; analyze how self-regulation mediates the influence of moral emotions on intervention behaviors. | Self-regulation, moral emotions, and cyberbullying | 1674 adolescents (girls = 50.3%); average age of boys = 15.99 years (SD = 1.03); average age of girls = 16.02 years (SD = 1.04) | Analyses revealed that adolescents rarely expressed feelings of guilt and sympathy in cyberbullying events, demonstrating moderate self-control but rarely intervening to defend victims. Being female was positively related to self-control. The negative correlation between self-control and aggressive defense behavior suggests that the better someone is at self-regulating their emotions and actions, the less likely they are to adopt an aggressive intervention when witnessing cyberbullying. |
[27] | Australia | Determine the effects of rewriting forgiveness or revenge images in a bullying victimization scenario. | Forgiveness, revenge, and bullying | 43 boys aged between 12 and 14 years (average age 12.81 years; SD = 0.70) | Most participants reported experiencing some form of bullying in the previous semester, with verbal bullying being the most common. Participants considered the aggressive event less serious over time (forgiveness). |
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Share and Cite
Oliveira, W.A.d.; Esteca, A.M.N.; Wechsler, S.M.; Menesini, E. Bullying and Cyberbullying in School: Rapid Review on the Roles of Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Self-Regulation. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 839. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21070839
Oliveira WAd, Esteca AMN, Wechsler SM, Menesini E. Bullying and Cyberbullying in School: Rapid Review on the Roles of Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Self-Regulation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21(7):839. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21070839
Chicago/Turabian StyleOliveira, Wanderlei Abadio de, Antonio Marcos Neves Esteca, Solange Muglia Wechsler, and Ersilia Menesini. 2024. "Bullying and Cyberbullying in School: Rapid Review on the Roles of Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Self-Regulation" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 21, no. 7: 839. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21070839