social sciences $€ £ ¥ Article Parental Communication and Feelings of Affiliation in Adolescent Aggressors and Victims of Cyberbullying Jessica Ortega Barón 1,* , Javier Postigo 2, Begoña Iranzo 3 , Sofía Buelga 4 and Laura Carrascosa 4 1 Department of Psychology of Education and Psychobiology, Faculty of Education, International University of la Rioja (UNIR), 26006 Logroño, Spain 2 Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain;
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[email protected] 4 Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain; sofi
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[email protected] Received: 12 November 2018; Accepted: 22 December 2018; Published: 25 December 2018 Abstract: Cyberbullying is an increasingly frequent problem among adolescents, and it produces considerable social concern. Using a cross-sectional and quantitative methodology, the main objective of this study was to analyze the differences among students involved in the perpetration and victimization of cyberbullying (non-involved, occasional, and severe), in their parental communication, and feelings of affiliation with classmates. The sample consisted of 849 adolescents (51.7% boys and 48.3% girls) from 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.5; SD = 1.62). Three comparison groups of aggressors and victims of cyberbullying were formed, depending on the intensity of the intimidation: non-involved, occasional, and severe. The results of the analysis of variance indicated that adolescents involved in cyberbullying as perpetrators or victims have less open and more avoidant communication with their parents than adolescents who are not involved in cyberbullying.