Health & Medicine
Family Dinners Lower the Effect of Cyberbullying in Adolescents
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Sep 02, 2014 07:03 AM EDT
Regular family meals can protect adolescents from the effects of cyberbullying, a new study reveals.
More young children are turning to technology to harass, threaten, target or embarrass another person. This is called cyberbullying and is rated as a growing problem worldwide, especially among adolescents. The emotional and psychological effects of cyberbullying are extremely destructive.
In the latest study, researchers at the McGill University found that by sharing regular family meals with children, parents can help protect them from the detrimental effects of cyberbullying. According to the researchers, family meal times offer social support and exchange in the home. This, in turn, boosts the well-being of the adolescents.
The researchers also believe that this family contact and communication lowers few of the damaging effects of online bullying.
"One in five adolescents experience cyberbullying," said Elgar, who is also a researcher at the Douglas Mental Health Institute, "Many adolescents use social media, and online harassment and abuse are difficult for parents and educators to monitor, so it is critical to identify protective factors for youths who are exposed to cyberbullying."
The study, led by McGill professor Frank Elgar of the Institute for Health and Social Policy, examined the influence of regular family meals in lowering the impact of online bullying on the mental health of the adolescents.
As many as 20,385 adolescents in the state of Wisconsin were observed. As a part of the study, the researchers measured exposure to cyberbullying and traditional bullying. They also measured the range of mental health outcomes that included depression, anxiety, substance use, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts.
"We found that emotional, behavioural, and substance use problems are 2.6 to 4.5 times more common among victims of cyberbullying," said Elgar an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry, whose research centers around social inequalities in health and family influences on children's mental health. "And these impacts are not due to face-to-face bullying; they are specific to cyberbullying."
Cyberbullying victimization relates more strongly to those who have fewer family dinners, clearly indicating that contact and communication lowers the negative effects of online bullying.
The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canada Research Chairs programme.
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First Posted: Sep 02, 2014 07:03 AM EDT
Regular family meals can protect adolescents from the effects of cyberbullying, a new study reveals.
More young children are turning to technology to harass, threaten, target or embarrass another person. This is called cyberbullying and is rated as a growing problem worldwide, especially among adolescents. The emotional and psychological effects of cyberbullying are extremely destructive.
In the latest study, researchers at the McGill University found that by sharing regular family meals with children, parents can help protect them from the detrimental effects of cyberbullying. According to the researchers, family meal times offer social support and exchange in the home. This, in turn, boosts the well-being of the adolescents.
The researchers also believe that this family contact and communication lowers few of the damaging effects of online bullying.
"One in five adolescents experience cyberbullying," said Elgar, who is also a researcher at the Douglas Mental Health Institute, "Many adolescents use social media, and online harassment and abuse are difficult for parents and educators to monitor, so it is critical to identify protective factors for youths who are exposed to cyberbullying."
The study, led by McGill professor Frank Elgar of the Institute for Health and Social Policy, examined the influence of regular family meals in lowering the impact of online bullying on the mental health of the adolescents.
As many as 20,385 adolescents in the state of Wisconsin were observed. As a part of the study, the researchers measured exposure to cyberbullying and traditional bullying. They also measured the range of mental health outcomes that included depression, anxiety, substance use, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts.
"We found that emotional, behavioural, and substance use problems are 2.6 to 4.5 times more common among victims of cyberbullying," said Elgar an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry, whose research centers around social inequalities in health and family influences on children's mental health. "And these impacts are not due to face-to-face bullying; they are specific to cyberbullying."
Cyberbullying victimization relates more strongly to those who have fewer family dinners, clearly indicating that contact and communication lowers the negative effects of online bullying.
The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canada Research Chairs programme.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone