Bullying and cyberbullying. Theoretical framework, prevention, and intervention in the educational context.

Peer aggression has evolved over the years, adapting to the characteristics demanded by society and undergoing changes reflected in the types of aggression, the targeted population, and the contexts and periods of risk. Technological advances, in conjunction with unrestricted access to virtual environments at increasingly younger ages, have increased the risks to which children are exposed, leading to a rise in problematics such as cyberbullying. The dynamics of peer aggression, whether physical or virtual, are considered to be one of the main health problems experienced during childhood and adolescence. This phenomenon is attributable not only to its high prevalence among students, but also to the adverse consequences of these situations for all those individuals involved, both directly and indirectly (aggressors, victims, and bystanders, and their counterparts in the virtual context). These detrimental effects, which can be long-lasting, have been shown to affect physical, psychosocial, and psycho-emotional health of students. It is evident that these data reach higher levels in specific circumstances, such as the transition from Primary to Secondary education, affecting minority or vulnerable populations, such as students with special educational needs, or in certain contexts, as for instance, rural areas or Physical Education. Therefore, it is vital to understand, prevent and intervene in situations of bullying and cyberbullying, in order to promote the comprehensive development of students on a global scale. It is imperative to acknowledge the risk factors, protective variables, and group influence in order to address these aggressive situations and adapt the actions to the characteristics and needs of students. The primary objective of the present doctoral thesis is to reduce the incidence of bullying and cyberbullying among students in the final years of Primary education and the first years of Secondary education. This objective is to be achieved by promoting the improvement of the conceptualization of these constructs, the perception of the roles involved, as well as the development of personal and social skills, with a particular emphasis on empathy and prosocial behavior. Therefore, this doctoral thesis comprises seven studies that aim to respond to the aforementioned needs encountered. The first line of research reviews scientific literature related to bullying and, with a specific focus on cyberbullying, among students with special educational needs, with or without disabilities, as they are regarded as a vulnerable population. The second line of inquiry focuses on gifted students, with the aim of analyzing the incidence, social relationships, and programs and strategies that contribute to the prevention of aggression targeting these students. The third perspective conducts a systematic review of programs designed to prevent and reduce cyberbullying among Primary School students. One of the conclusions of this review emphasizes the necessity of analyzing cyberbullying assessment instruments, thus giving rise to the fourth line of research, which incorporates a meta-analytical component into the systematic review with the aim of analyzing the accuracy, validity, reliability, and objectivity of the validated tools. These results, in light of the protective and risk factors elucidated by the reviews conducted, lead to the fifth line of research, which designs an intervention that can be adapted to the educational context and teaching reality and whose main objective is the reduction and prevention of bullying and cyberbullying. The intervention was carried out on 695 students aged between 10 and 15 in the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha, the majority of whom were students from rural areas. Consequently, the sixth research line examines the efficacy of this short-term intervention in the conceptualization of bullying and cyberbullying, the perception of the roles involved, as well as personal and social skills, while the seventh line of research focuses on the analysis of prosocial behavior, comparing the results obtained before and after the intervention. Specifically, taking into consideration the different research lines, the analysis of vulnerable populations, such as students with special educational needs, has contributed to the further development of strategies and tools that protect students from becoming involved in peer aggression in both physical and virtual contexts. Social skills, interpersonal communication, prosocial behavior, emotional self-regulation, and coping strategies are particularly noteworthy in this regard. Moreover, focus must be brought to the conspicuous absence of emphasis on adaptations or protective factors that could potentially mitigate the high prevalence rates observed among vulnerable populations. Additionally, there is a notable omission of consideration for the virtual factor in the programs. With regard to the systematic review of interventions, an increased awareness of protective and risk factors that help reduce behaviors associated with bullying and cyberbullying was promoted, stressing the need for intervention from the moment of first contact with technology and the importance of focusing on cooperative activities as a necessary tool for improving group cohesion. In the context of evaluation of instruments designed to assess cyberbullying, a reliability analysis yielded favorable results, suggesting that the instruments consistently provide comparable results. Nevertheless, the broad array of instruments that address similar concepts hinders the comparison of results with the same objectives, which is considered a limitation. The final three studies synthesize the design and the results obtained after implementing the intervention to prevent and reduce this type of behavior in the Physical Education subject. It is important to underscore the necessity of incorporating activities that are integral to the daily routine of educators. This approach aims to promote the incorporation of the intervention within the educational curriculum, thereby fostering its sustained implementation. Furthermore, teacher training emerged as a crucial element in fostering effective responses to situations that may arise, promoting the adoption of coping strategies tailored to the individual characteristics of each student. In consideration of the results obtained subsequent to the intervention, an enhancement in perceptions of the different roles was observed, indicating a diminution in student involvement in this particular form of aggression, both in physical and virtual contexts. Furthermore, it is crucial to emphasize the improvement in empathy and self-concept scores, as these two protective factors influence bystanders to provide support and assistance to victims in dealing with adverse consequences. In addition to these two variables, the analysis of prosocial behavior also highlighted enhancements in responsibility, altruistic behavior, social support, and solidarity. Nonetheless, despite the observed improvement in these variables, a salient finding pertains to prosocial behavior, contingent on educational stage. It was observed that this variable exhibits a decline as the academic years progress, with particular significance during the transition from Primary to Secondary education. Hence, it is considered essential to prioritize prosocial behavior during this period of heightened risk, as it is regarded as a protective variable and this is a stage characterized by an elevated probability of experiencing bullying and cyberbullying. The findings of this study demonstrate that this necessity could be partially addressed through the implementation of the intervention designed during this doctoral thesis, which could produce significant improvements in empathy and verbal comfort, physical and verbal service among Secondary Education students, as well as in solidarity. Thus, the present doctoral thesis has contributed to each of the objectives set out in the different studies, promoting a reduction in the rates of bullying and cyberbullying among students in the selected courses, and facilitating the dissemination of information and knowledge to all educational agents involved in student development.