Cyberbullying perpetration and victimization among adolescents in Hong Kong

• 1917 Hong Kong adolescents are sampled to explore the prevalence of cyberbullying.
• Males are more likely than females to cyberbully others and to be cyber-victimized.
• Poor psychosocial health and school belonging sense are linked with cyberbullying.
• Cyberbullying and traditional bullying are positively correlated.
• Gender and several psychological traits will increase the odds to cyberbully others.

Cyberbullying is a growing concern worldwide. Using a sample of 1917 secondary adolescents from seven schools, five psychometric measures (self-efficacy, empathy level, feelings regarding a harmonious school, sense of belonging to the school, and psychosocial wellbeing) and five scales regarding bullying experiences (cyber- and traditional bullying perpetration and victimization; reactions to cyberbullying victimization) were administered to explore the prevalence of cyberbullying in Hong Kong. Findings indicated that male adolescents were more likely than female adolescents to cyberbully others and to be cyber-victimized. Cyberbullying perpetration and victimization were found to be negatively associated with the adolescents' psychosocial health and sense of belonging to school. Cyber- and traditional bullying were positively correlated. Multivariate analyses indicated that being male, having a low sense of belonging to school, involvement in traditional bullying perpetration, and experiencing cyber-victimization were associated with an increased propensity to cyberbully others.