Increasing Youth's Defending Behavior 60/a_ ,)v77
UNIVERSITY of
OF FLORIDA
Increasing Youth's Defending Behaviors:
Development of an Avatar-Based E-Training for Bystanders of Cyberbullying
Thank you for considering participation in our development and evaluation study, "Increasing Youth's
Defending Behaviors: Development of an Avatar-Based E-Training for Bystanders of Cyberbullying."
The study will develop and pilot test an online avatar-based training designed to increase middle school
students' likelihood of defending victims of cyberbullying.
Increasing Youth's Defending of Cyberbullying
Adolescent cyberbullying is difficult for adults to monitor, and the reporting of incidents is often traced
back to victims, potentially increasing risk for subsequent bullying and other negative repercussions.
Cyberbully prevention and intervention approaches that minimize reliance on adult involvement and
integrate less proscriptive language may have more success at reducing cyberbullying and its negative
impacts on the victim. One promising approach is to focus on witnesses of cyberbullying attacks.
However,few of the existing bullying-or-cyberbullyinginterventions target bystander behavior arid,to-our
knowledge, none focus exclusively on bystanders of cyberbullying. Given the rapidly changing social
media landscape and the social complexities around how youth interact in this world, having a single
module focused on bystander behavior embedded within a more general cyberbullying intervention likely
does not equip youth with the necessary skills to confidently and effectively intervene.
For this reason, Dr. Lisa Sontag-Padilla(P1) and Dr.Dorothy Espelage (Senior Co-I) propose developing
and pilot testing an online avatar-based training designed to increase middle school students' likelihood of
defending victims of cyberbullying.
The intervention will focus on cyberbullying within a social media context and will include 6 modules of
approximately 30 minutes of instructional time per module (cumulative across didactic conveyance and
interactive exercises). Specifically, we will focus on enhancing middle school students' (1) ability to
identify instances of'cyber aggression, (2) knowledge of ways to defend a victim of cyberbullying that
limit potential harm to themselves, (3) self-efficacy or confidence in defending the victim, and (4)
likelihood to intervene. These skills can not only increase the likelihood of defending victims, but also
have the potential to decrease perpetration of cyberbullying and protect victims against some of the
negative outcomes of cyberbullying.
This intervention will be designed with flexibility of administration in mind such that it can be delivered
to students via the Web outside school time on their own devices or within school settings.
This project will involve two phases: 1) an intervention development phase, and 2) a pilot testing phase.
Based upon their collective experience testing classroom-based social-emotional learning programs and
evaluating youth anti-bullying programs,Drs. Sontag-Padilla and Espelage believe that it is important that
we develop strategies to bolster youth's skills and confidence around defending against cyberbullying. If
you choose to take part in the evaluation study;your responsibilities will be as follows:
Afterschool Program Responsibilities .
1. Help researchers identify and recruit 200 eligible participants among your 7th and 8th grade
students for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the project. All seventh and 8th grade students will be
eligible to participate.
2. Allow us to send consent forms home to parents of eligible youth participants.We will ask school
staff(teachers, support administration) to collect signed consent forms. Pre-paid envelopes will
be provided to the afterschool program directors to send consent forms to the study staff.
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3. Among the 150 eligible students who receive parental consent to participate, we will randomly
select 44 students to participate in Phase 1 and 70 students to participate in Phase 2.
4. We will provide all participating students access to mobile devices (e.g., tablets) with internet
access unless they prefer to use their own devices (i.e., smartphones, tablets with wifi access, or
computers with internet access).
Steps in the Evaluation Study
Phase 1 (Fall 2019): students who are eligible,have parental permission, and provide assent will:
• Participate in one of three focus groups(8 students per group)to gather information on where and
how cyberbullying happens in the most popular social media outlets; reasons why youth do and
do not intervene; and feedback on intervention mechanics, graphics, and interactivity.
• A separate sample of 20 students will participate in the iterative development process during
which time they will complete surveys and one-on-one interviews on each of the 6 modules to
obtain end user feedback on their experience (usability, feasibility, interface preferences) during
beta testing -- -
Phase 2(Spring 2020): students who are eligible,have parental permission, and provide assent will:
• Complete a pre-training survey
• Participate in the intervention training (6 modules of approximately 30 minutes of instructional
time per module, cumulative across didactic conveyance and interactive exercises)
• Complete a post-intervention survey
• Complete a follow-up survey at 3-months post intervention
Depending on the preference of the City of Miami Beach, participation in Phase 1 and Phase 2
intervention development and pilot testing, including all surveys, can take place outside of afterschool
time or during programming. If programming is to take place outside of afterschool programming, we
will provide transportation to students.
Incentives
Youth will receive Amazon e-gift cards for completing the various stages of the project (e.g., per survey
response, depending on assigned group). Specific values have yet to be determined and are dependent on
total budget. However, values will reflect an appropriate amount for middle school youth based on their
level of participation and prior experiencing working with schools. We chose Amazon gift cards because
they can be distributed online and monitored to ensure that they have been used, and re-issued if
necessary.
Use of the data
We will be using the data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 to inform the development of the cyberbully
intervention and whether or not the intervention impacts students' knowledge, skills and behaviors in a
positive way. Students' personally identifying information will not be connected to their data from the
study, and all information will be presented in study reports and manuscripts in aggregated form only.
The anticipated risk for students is no greater than participation in usual daily activities. Additionally, we
will not make specific reference to the City of Miami Beach in any publications resulting from our study
findings.
Releases
University of Florida will provide Releases to the participating students in the form attached hereto as
Exhibit"A".
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Indemnification
University of Florida hereby agrees to hold harmless,defend and indemnify the City of Miami Beach and
their affiliates, their directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives from and against all
damages, expenses, cause of action, suits, claims,penalties,judgements and/or liabilities by reason of any
act or commission or omission directly or indirectly attributable to any of University of Florida's
obligations relating to this study.
Jurisdiction
This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with, be governed by and be subject to the jurisdiction
of the laws and courts of the State of Florida,venue being in Miami-Dade County.
FERPA
All parties understand and agree that they are subject to all District policies relation to the confidentiality
of student information. Parties acknowledge and agree to comply with the Family Education Rights and
Privacy Act("FERPA") and all state and federal laws relation to the confidentiality of student records.
Jessica Lunsford Act
The parties agree that each of its employees or representatives who has direct contact with students, must
comply with the requirements of Jessica Lunsford Act, 1012.465 F.S.
Public Records
Parties understand the broad nature of Florida's Access to Record/Public Record Laws, and agree to
comply with Florida's Public Records Laws and laws relating to records retention. The parties shall keep
and maintain public records required to perform the contract. The parties shall keep records to show their
compliance with this contract. The parties and any subcontractors must make available, upon request of
any other party, a Federal grantor agency, the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their
duly authorized representatives, any books, documents, papers, and records of the parties which are
directly pertinent to this specific contract for the purpose of making audit, examination, excerpts, and
transcriptions. Upon request, each party's custodian of public records shall provide a copy of the
requested records or allow the records to be inspected or copied within a reasonable time at a cost that
does not exceed the cost provided in Chapter 119, Florida Statutes or as otherwise provided by law. The
parties shall ensure that public records that are exempt or confidential and exempt from public records
disclosure requirements are not disclosed except as authorized by law for the duration of the contract term
and following completion of the contract if the parties do not transfer the records to the public agencies.
The parties shall retain all records for five (5) years after all pending matters are completed pursuant to
Florida Statutes Chapter 119 Public Records Law.Upon completion of the contract,University of Florida
shall transfer at no cost to the public agencies all public records in its possession or keep and maintain
public records required by the parties to perform the service. If University Of Florida transfers all public
records to the public agencies upon completion of the contract, University Of Florida shall destroy any
duplicate public records that are exempt or confidential and exempt from public records disclosure
requirements. If University Of Florida keeps and maintains public records upon completion of the
contract, University Of Florida shall meet all applicable requirements for retaining public records. All
records stored electronically must be provided to the requesting party, in a format that is compatible with
the information technology systems of the School Board.
IF THE ORGANIZATION HAS QUESTIONS REGARDING THE APPLICATION OF CHAPTER 119,
FLORIDA STATUTES, TO PROVIDE PUBLIC RECORDS RELATING TO THIS CONTRACT,
CONTACT THE CUSTODIAN OF PUBLIC RECORDS AT
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CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
ATTENTION: RAFAEL E. GRANADO, CITY CLERK
1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA 33139
E-MAIL: RAFAELGRANADO@MIAMIBEACHFL.GOV
PHONE: 305-673-7411
Support
Please sign below to indicate your pport for this study if funded.
City of iami Beal , Florida
Name:
Signature: _ , Date: - 1-t)s-hr
Jimmy 16'. Mora es, City Manager
Thank you,
Univers' of r orid.. r '
By: /f
AA I ATTEST:
Dorot*Espel.ge,Ph.D.
Professor,Department of Psychology �� l
University of Florida Rafael E.Granad0,City Clerk
T: 352.273.2139
E: esnelaae(ufl.edu woommugtt.
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