Cyberbullying in pre-adolescence - reality of a city in northern Portugal

Abstract Introduction: The rapid evolution of communication technologies has enabled easy and premature access for children and young people to social networks, the internet, and smartphones. The indiscriminate use of these technologies has led to the emergence of cyberbullying. The objective was to analyse the prevalence of cyberbullying and the most frequent forms involved in this age group. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted through anonymous questionnaires distributed in primary schools (2nd and 3rd cycles) in the municipality. Results: The study included 482 students, with a median age of 12 years (9-15 years), and a similar gender distribution (55% female, 45% male). Regarding the daily screen time, 20.5% reported spending less than 1 hour, 47.7% between 1 to 3 hours, while 31.1% spent more than 3 hours per day. The prevalence of cyberbullying in the studied sample was 30.9%, with 34.9% of them admitting to being victims in the last 3 months, with only 50% requesting help. The most reported type of cyberbullying was being excluded from a chat or social network. In the subsample of children who experienced cyberbullying, a statistically significant relationship was found between victimization and being female (p-value 0.046) and between victimization and being an aggressor (p-value <0.001). Conclusion: According to this study, the exposure to digital technology in this age group is practically universal, with a cyberbullying prevalence of around 31%. This alarming victimization rate occurs during a crucial phase of the child’s social and emotional development.