Can school-wide social and emotional learning reduce cyberbullying among adolescents?

As communication technology becomes ever more integrated into people’s daily lives, the prevalence and severity of cyberbullying has become a subject of public concern. The negative effects of cyberbullying on young people’s psychosocial, academic, behavioral, and physical outcomes have also been well explored in the literature, particularly among adolescents.

To combat this trend, schools are increasingly embracing the school-wide social and emotional learning (SEL) approach in their antibullying efforts. School-wide SEL defines the entire school community as the unit of change; it aims to integrate SEL into daily school interactions and practices that include all staff, teachers, families, and children. However, there is a limited scientific understanding of the key factors that constitute the school-wide SEL approach and how they contribute to bullying’s antecedents and consequences. In comparison to physical, verbal, or relational bullying, much less is known about how schools can apply school-wide SEL to reduce the risk of cyberbullying.

In a large-scale survey study published in School Psychologyopens in new window, Chunyan Yang, Chun Chen, Xueqin Lin, and Mei-ki Chan used multilevel modeling to examine how two key components of school-wide SEL—school climate and an integrated set of SEL competencies—influenced 15,227 adolescents’ cyberbullying experience in 39 Delaware middle and high schools.

Yang and colleagues found that four competencies commonly targeted in SEL programs—self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and social relationships—differentiated associations with adolescents’ cyberbullying victimization experience. The associations varied depending on the types of SEL competencies, school climate context, and students’ gender and grade levels. Specifically, a lack of self-management and responsible decision-making were both risk factors for cyberbullying victimization; in contrast, a lack of social awareness was a protective factor for cyberbullying victimization. Lack of self-management was a stronger risk factor for cyberbullying victimization among female students than male students; lack of responsible decision-making was a stronger risk factor for high school students than middle school students. Students’ perception of a more positive school climate intensified the negative association between self-management and cyberbullying victimization; however, perception of a more positive school climate mitigated the negative association between responsible decision-making and cyberbullying victimization.

A comprehensive school-based cyberbullying prevention program would need to emphasize not only quality instruction to improve students’ SEL competencies but also assessment and monitoring of school climate. It is also important to design and implement school-wide SEL practices that are tailored to gender, grade level, and specific domains of SEL competencies when addressing cyberbullying among school-age adolescents.

Note: This article is in the Educational Psychology, School Psychology, and Training topic area. View more articles in the Educational Psychology, School Psychology, and Training topic area.

Yang, C., Chen, C., Lin, X., & Chan, M.-K. (2021). School-wide social emotional learning and cyberbullying victimization among middle and high school students: Moderating role of school climate. School Psychology, 36(2), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000423opens in new window

Chunyan Yang, PhD, is an assistant professor of school psychology in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests focus on understanding how school members (e.g., students, teachers, parents) interact with their living contexts (e.g., school, family, community, culture) to find their resilience in face of a variety of risk factors in school settings, such as bullying, teacher-targeted violence, and mental health challenges.

Chun Chen, MEd, is a doctoral student in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests focus on youth risk and resilience and identifying social-emotional and social-ecological factors that promote positive mental health outcomes and cope with negativities, such as bullying victimization and problematic Internet use.

Xueqin Lin, MEd, is a doctoral student in the school psychology program in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Her primary research interests focus on adolescents’ risk and resilience and their impacts on adolescents’ academic and mental health outcomes. She is also interested in cross-cultural comparisons and ethnic identity development and mental health of immigrant adolescents.

Mei-ki Chan is a doctoral student in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests focus on social-emotional development, mental health, and bullying victimization.