College of Management Sciences, Sadat Academy for Management Sciences, Alexandria 21578, Egypt.
College of Social Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait P.O. Box 68168, Kuwait.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 19;20(3):1846. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20031846.
Cyberbullying is a form of aggression in which electronic communication such as e-mails, mobile phone calls, text messages, instant messenger contacts, photos, social networking sites and personal webpages are used to threaten or intimidate individuals. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) counselling based on empathic training may reduce cyberbullying among adolescents. The present study investigated the impact of developing empathy skills in reducing cyberbullying among a sample of adolescents using two groups (i.e., an experimental group and control group). The experimental group received counselling intervention based on CBT with special focus on improving empathy whereas the control group received CBT general counselling. The participants comprised 217 adolescents (experimental group = 98 adolescents, control group = 119 adolescents) with a mean age of 15.1 years (SD ± 1.5). The measures included the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) and the Bullying, Cyberbullying Scale for Adolescents (BCS-A). Results showed that there were statistically significant differences on TEQ scores and BCS-A scores in the experimental and control groups after the intervention but more so in favor of the experimental group in terms of reduced levels of cyberbullying (both victimization and perpetration). Positive gains among the experimental group in both empathy and reduced cyberbullying remained at two-month follow-up. It is recommended that teachers and school counselors tackling cyberbullying should use empathy training as part of their cyberbullying prevention programs.
网络欺凌是一种通过电子邮件、手机通话、短信、即时通讯联系、照片、社交网站和个人网页等电子通讯手段来威胁或恐吓个人的攻击形式。基于共情训练的认知行为疗法（CBT）咨询可能会减少青少年中的网络欺凌行为。本研究通过两组（实验组和对照组）来调查发展共情技能对减少青少年网络欺凌的影响。实验组接受基于 CBT 的咨询干预，特别强调提高共情能力，而对照组接受 CBT 一般咨询。参与者包括 217 名青少年（实验组=98 名青少年，对照组=119 名青少年），平均年龄为 15.1 岁（SD±1.5）。测量工具包括多伦多共情问卷（TEQ）和青少年欺凌、网络欺凌量表（BCS-A）。结果表明，实验组和对照组在干预后在 TEQ 得分和 BCS-A 得分上存在统计学上的显著差异，但实验组在降低网络欺凌（受害和施害）水平方面更有利。实验组在共情和减少网络欺凌方面的积极收益在两个月的随访中仍然存在。建议教师和学校辅导员在处理网络欺凌问题时应将共情培训作为其网络欺凌预防计划的一部分。
