The Impact of Cyberbullying and Cyber Harassment on Academic Achievement

Abstract

Cyberbullying is commonly measured by either an inventory of manifest variables (i.e. cyber harassment) or the use of global items covering cyberbullying in general. This study aimed to compare these two approaches in terms of how they predict academic achievement. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to build recursive models including variables of academic achievement, traditional and cyber harassment, cyberbullying, socio-economic status, perceived quality of life at school, and sex. Our findings reveal an impact of cyberbullying and cyber harassment on academic skills, and furthermore suggest that the choice of method (manifest variables vs. global items) is of less importance in this regard. Furthermore, the impact of cyberbullying and cyber harassment on academic achievement appears to be mainly mediated through the victims’ perceived quality of life at school.