Teachers’ awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying: Exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroom

Cyberbullying is a major and pressing issue in schools, reducing students' well-being and placing emotional burden on teachers. Despite increased attention to students' experiences, there is limited research on teachers' knowledge, emotional responses, and emotion regulation when witn...

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Main Authors: Paula da Costa Ferreira, Nádia Pereira, Carlos Martinho, Hugo Marques, Hélio Martins, Alexandra Marques Pinto, Alexandra Barros, Aristides Ferreira, Mafalda Gomes, Ana Margarida Veiga Simão
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Computers in Human Behavior Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958825000624
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author Paula da Costa Ferreira
Nádia Pereira
Carlos Martinho
Hugo Marques
Hélio Martins
Alexandra Marques Pinto
Alexandra Barros
Aristides Ferreira
Mafalda Gomes
Ana Margarida Veiga Simão
author_facet Paula da Costa Ferreira
Nádia Pereira
Carlos Martinho
Hugo Marques
Hélio Martins
Alexandra Marques Pinto
Alexandra Barros
Aristides Ferreira
Mafalda Gomes
Ana Margarida Veiga Simão
author_sort Paula da Costa Ferreira
collection DOAJ
description Cyberbullying is a major and pressing issue in schools, reducing students' well-being and placing emotional burden on teachers. Despite increased attention to students' experiences, there is limited research on teachers' knowledge, emotional responses, and emotion regulation when witnessing student cyberbullying. Thus, this study explores teachers' knowledge, emotional responses, and emotion regulation strategies to respond to cyberbullying, and the impact of an innovative game-based platform on their emotion regulation abilities. Employing an integrated emotions and emotion regulation appraisal model, the mixed-methods study employed a sequential explanatory design. 543 teachers and 533 students were surveyed to examine a substantial difference between teachers' self-reports and students' self-reports of cyberbullying, with students reporting more instances. 63 teachers provided qualitative interviews with information on how they responded emotionally, which were predominantly negative in valence—concern, surprise, and frustration—and led to the prevalent use of response modulation strategies. Quasi-experimental, longitudinal research conducted among 64 teachers analyzed whether a serious game-based intervention can be effective. Emotion regulation was still a concern, however, pre-post-tests indicated that the platform supported increased use of cognitive reappraisal and coping responses for responding to cyberbullying. These findings are supportive of the need for training interventions to specifically target strengthening teachers' socio-emotional abilities, potentially contributing to early intervention and healthy school climate development. Schools can use technology-supported interventions to prompt teachers of their socio-emotional abilities and hence manage cyberbullying effectively. Future studies should use larger samples and longer longitudinal designs to adequately address and assess teachers’ emotion regulation approaches across time.
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spelling doaj-art-065f820d52d64fe19a1a88334f153a942025-08-20T02:37:45ZengElsevierComputers in Human Behavior Reports2451-95882025-05-011810064710.1016/j.chbr.2025.100647Teachers’ awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying: Exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroomPaula da Costa Ferreira0Nádia Pereira1Carlos Martinho2Hugo Marques3Hélio Martins4Alexandra Marques Pinto5Alexandra Barros6Aristides Ferreira7Mafalda Gomes8Ana Margarida Veiga Simão9CICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade 1649-013, Lisboa, Portugal; Corresponding author.CICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade 1649-013, Lisboa, PortugalInstituto Superior Técnico, INESC-ID, GAIPS, Porto Salvo, PortugalInstituto Superior Técnico, INESC-ID, GAIPS, Porto Salvo, PortugalInstituto Superior Técnico, INESC-ID, GAIPS, Porto Salvo, PortugalCICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade 1649-013, Lisboa, PortugalCICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade 1649-013, Lisboa, PortugalBusiness Research Unit, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Avenida das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisbon, PortugalFaculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade 1649-013, Lisboa, PortugalCICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade 1649-013, Lisboa, PortugalCyberbullying is a major and pressing issue in schools, reducing students' well-being and placing emotional burden on teachers. Despite increased attention to students' experiences, there is limited research on teachers' knowledge, emotional responses, and emotion regulation when witnessing student cyberbullying. Thus, this study explores teachers' knowledge, emotional responses, and emotion regulation strategies to respond to cyberbullying, and the impact of an innovative game-based platform on their emotion regulation abilities. Employing an integrated emotions and emotion regulation appraisal model, the mixed-methods study employed a sequential explanatory design. 543 teachers and 533 students were surveyed to examine a substantial difference between teachers' self-reports and students' self-reports of cyberbullying, with students reporting more instances. 63 teachers provided qualitative interviews with information on how they responded emotionally, which were predominantly negative in valence—concern, surprise, and frustration—and led to the prevalent use of response modulation strategies. Quasi-experimental, longitudinal research conducted among 64 teachers analyzed whether a serious game-based intervention can be effective. Emotion regulation was still a concern, however, pre-post-tests indicated that the platform supported increased use of cognitive reappraisal and coping responses for responding to cyberbullying. These findings are supportive of the need for training interventions to specifically target strengthening teachers' socio-emotional abilities, potentially contributing to early intervention and healthy school climate development. Schools can use technology-supported interventions to prompt teachers of their socio-emotional abilities and hence manage cyberbullying effectively. Future studies should use larger samples and longer longitudinal designs to adequately address and assess teachers’ emotion regulation approaches across time.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958825000624Student cyberbullyingTeacher awarenessEmotionsEmotion regulationSerious game-based interventionsTeacher professional development
spellingShingle Paula da Costa Ferreira
Nádia Pereira
Carlos Martinho
Hugo Marques
Hélio Martins
Alexandra Marques Pinto
Alexandra Barros
Aristides Ferreira
Mafalda Gomes
Ana Margarida Veiga Simão
Teachers’ awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying: Exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroom
Computers in Human Behavior Reports
Student cyberbullying
Teacher awareness
Emotions
Emotion regulation
Serious game-based interventions
Teacher professional development
title Teachers’ awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying: Exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroom
title_full Teachers’ awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying: Exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroom
title_fullStr Teachers’ awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying: Exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroom
title_full_unstemmed Teachers’ awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying: Exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroom
title_short Teachers’ awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying: Exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroom
title_sort teachers awareness and emotional response to cyberbullying exploring emotional regulation strategies in the classroom
topic Student cyberbullying
Teacher awareness
Emotions
Emotion regulation
Serious game-based interventions
Teacher professional development
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958825000624
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