Due to the proliferation, daily use and importance that media has taken on in the lives of young people, it is not surprising that aggressive behavior occurs among young people, just as it does in real life. Disputes take place online or are continued virtually.

In this context, the term cyberbullying is almost always used. However, by limiting it to cyberbullying, various forms of youth aggression online are ignored. Namely, those that occur much more frequently during daily surfing or chatting and may seem harmless at first glance, but are also experienced by young people as problematic and can easily get out of control.

This is precisely where this study comes in. The study attempts to find out what different types of online aggression, in addition to cyberbullying, exist among young people. What is fun teasing and what is perceived by young people as stressful or threatening? And how do young people deal with online abuse from their peers?

If you know the daily dangers and problems that adolescents are confronted with and their mechanisms, it is easier to contribute to their protection and to create and improve information and support services.

To this end, a questionnaire was developed in collaboration with young people, which covers various scenarios of online aggression among young people. Information is collected on

• Assessment of the severity
• Type of attack (private vs. public)
• Connection to the aggressor (close friends vs. acquaintances vs. online acquaintances)
• Form of aggressive method (text vs. image)
• Coping strategies for dealing with online aggression

Project staff

• Dr. Julia Riebel, Dipl.-Psych.
• Claudia Stelter