Cyberbullying is a serious problem, and victims of cyberbullying suffered psychologically. They are often anxious or depressed and are twice as likely as others to show suicidal behaviors. Moreover, some angry cyber-victims who poorly regulate their emotions often cyberbully others, creating a vicious cycle. Cyber-victims urgently need effective training to cope with cyberbullying. Past studies showed that emotion regulation, particularly reappraising or re-evaluating an emotion-eliciting situation can change its meaning (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, Gross & John, 2003), often reduces its negative impact. Therefore, this study developed and evaluated a training programme, which promotes cognitive reappraisal to combat cyberbullying among secondary school students.
At Time 1, we surveyed 197 students (Mage = 13.22, 48% boys) about their positive/negative emotion, and their knowledge of emotion regulation. Then, they joined our 4-session programme during class time and completed our survey again at T2. They joined a program that promotes cognitive reinterpretation versus distancing for handling cyberbullying.
We tested if their positive/negative emotion, and knowledge of emotion regulation would change after the programme, and compared which program is more effective. Results suggested in general, students experienced more positive emotions(t(173) = 2.63, p < .01, Cohen's d = .20) and have more knowledge about emotion regulation (t(175) = 2.61, p < .01, Cohen's d = .20) at T2, compared to T1. Specifically, we found an interaction effect of group (cognitive reinterpretation versus distancing) *time on negative emotion (F(1,172) = 5.63, p = .02, η2p = .03), indicating student reported less negative emotion in distancing group at T2 (but not in T1), as compared to reinterpretation group.
Our results help inform future interventions and local school curricula to help promoting emotional regulation, which may eventually stop the vicious cycle of cyberbullying.