Applying Natural Language Processing to Evaluate News Media Coverage of Bullying and Cyberbullying

Moreno, Megan A.; Gower, Aubrey D.; Brittain, Heather; Vaillancourt, Tracy

doi:10.1007/s11121-019-01029-x

Published: 14 August 2019

Applying Natural Language Processing to Evaluate News Media Coverage of Bullying and Cyberbullying

Megan A. Moreno ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2767-0787¹,
Aubrey D. Gower¹,
Heather Brittain² &
Tracy Vaillancourt²

Prevention Science volume 20, pages 1274–1283 (2019)Cite this article

1276 Accesses
8 Citations
2 Altmetric
Metrics details

Abstract

Bullying events have frequently been the focus of coverage by news media, including news stories about teens whose death from suicide was attributed to cyberbullying. Previous work has shown that news media coverage is influential to readers in areas such as suicide, infectious disease outbreaks, and tobacco use. News media may be an untapped resource to promote bullying prevention messages, though current news media approaches to describing bullying and cyberbullying remain unexplored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current state of news media coverage of bullying and cyberbullying. A sample of newspaper articles covering bullying or cyberbullying across regional and national US newspapers from 6 recent years was identified. A content analysis using natural language processing was conducted with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software program for key variables including affective, social, and cognitive processes. Evaluation included the percentage of words that represented Fear-based reporting such as alarmist words (e.g., epidemic, tragic), as well as words that represent Public Health-oriented messages such as prevention. A total of 463 newspaper articles met inclusion criteria, including 140 cyberbullying articles and 323 bullying articles. Findings indicated that cyberbullying articles scored higher on affective processes such as measures of anxiety (Mdn = 0.34) compared to bullying articles (Mdn = 0.22). A greater number of cyberbullying articles were Fear-based (41.4%) than were bullying articles (19.5%). An equivalent number of cyberbullying articles (50.0%) and bullying articles (49.8%) were Public Health-oriented. Findings may be used to collaborate with journalists toward optimizing prevention-oriented reporting.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

Bantum, E. O., & Owen, J. E. (2009). Evaluating the validity of computerized content analysis programs for identification of emotional expression in cancer narratives. Psychological Assessment, 21, 79–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014643.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Benjamini, Y., & Hochberg, Y. (1995). Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B: Methodological, 57, 289–300.
Google Scholar
Berry, D. S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1993). Nonverbal and verbal emotional expression and health. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 59, 11–19.
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Bollen, K. A., & Phillips, D. P. (1982). Imitative suicides: a national study of the effects of television news stories. American Sociological Review, 47, 802–809.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Bonanno, R. A., & Hymel, S. (2013). Cyber bullying and internalizing difficulties: above and beyond the impact of traditional forms of bullying. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 685–697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9937-1.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
CDC. (2014). Youth risk behavior surveillance - United States. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6304.pdf. Accessed 3 Jan 2019.
center, P. r. (1998). Local versus National Papers. Retrieved from https://www.journalism.org/1998/07/13/local-versus-national-papers/. Accessed 3 Jan 2019.
Chapple, A., Ziebland, S., Simkin, S., & Hawton, K. (2013). How people bereaved by suicide perceive newspaper reporting: qualitative study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 203, 228–232. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.112.114116.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Clegg Smith, K. (2014). News media analysis: influence on community health behaviors and practices. In S. M. Albert (Ed.), Methods for community public health research: Integrated and engaged approaches. Springer.
Corrigan, P. W., Powell, K. J., & Michaels, P. J. (2013). The effects of news stories on the stigma of mental illness. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 201, 179–182. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e3182848c24.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Cover, R. (2012). Mediating suicide: print journalism and the categorization of queer youth suicide discourses. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 1173–1183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9901-2.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Dalkey, N. (1969). The Delphi method: an experimental study of group opinion. Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_memoranda/2005/RM5888.pdf. Accessed 3 Jan 2019.
del Rey, R., Elipe, P., & Ortega-Ruiz, R. (2012). Bullying and cyberbullying: overlapping and predictive value of the co-occurrence. Psicothema, 24, 608–613.
PubMed Google Scholar
Donelle, L., Hoffman-Goetz, L., & Clarke, J. N. (2005). Ethnicity, genetics, and breast cancer: media portrayal of disease identities. Ethnicity & Health, 10, 185–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/13557850500120751.
CAS Article Google Scholar
Dzindolet, M., & Pierce, L. (2005). Using a linguistic analysis tool to detect deception. In Proceedings of the human factors and ergonomics society 49th annual meeting. https://doi.org/10.1177/154193120504900374.
Article Google Scholar
Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43, 51–58.
Article Google Scholar
Francis, M. E., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1992). Putting stress into words: the impact of writing on physiological, absentee, and self-reported emotional well-being measures. American Journal of Health Promotion, 6, 280–287.
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Gladden, R. M., Vivolo-Kantor, A. M., Hamburger, M. E., & Lumpkin, C. D. (2014). Bullying surveillance among youths: uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements. Retrieved from Atlanta, GA: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-definitions-final-a.pdf. Accessed 3 Jan 2019.
Goebert, D., Else, I., Matsu, C., Chung-Do, J., & Chang, J. Y. (2011). The impact of cyberbullying on substance use and mental health in a multiethnic sample. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 15, 1282–1286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-010-0672-x.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Gould, M. S., Greenberg, T., Velting, D. M., & Shaffer, D. (2003). Youth suicide risk and preventive interventions: a review of the past 10 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 386–405. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.Chi.0000046821.95464.Cf.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Heckler, E. B., Dubey, G., McDonald, D. W., Poole, E. S., Li, V., & Eikey, E. (2014). Exploring the relationship between changes in weight and utterances in an online weight loss forum: a content and correlational analysis study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16, e254.
Article Google Scholar
Howell, D.C. (2012). Statistical methods for psychology (PSY 613 Qualitative Research and Analysis in Psychology), 8th Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning.
John, A., Glendenning, A. C., Marchant, A., Montgomery, P., Stewart, A., Wood, S., . . ., Hawton, K. (2018). Self-harm, suicidal behaviours, and cyberbullying in children and young people: systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20, e129. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.9044.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Karanikola, M. N. K., Lyberg, A., Holm, A. L., & Severinsson, E. (2018). The association between deliberate self-harm and school bullying victimization and the mediating effect of depressive symptoms and self-stigma: a systematic review. BioMed Research International, 2018, 4745791. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4745791.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Khalil, G. E., Calabro, K. S., Crook, B., Machado, T. C., Perry, C. L., & Prokhorov, A. V. (2018). Validation of mobile phone text messages for nicotine and tobacco risk communication among college students: a content analysis. Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, 4. https://doi.org/10.18332/tpc/84866.
Kim, S. H., & Willis, L. A. (2007). Talking about obesity: news framing of who is responsible for causing and fixing the problem. Journal of Health Communication, 12, 359–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730701326051.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G. W., Schroeder, A. N., & Lattanner, M. R. (2014). Bullying in the digital age: a critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying research among youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 1073–1137. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035618.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Landstedt, E., & Persson, S. (2014). Bullying, cyberbullying, and mental health in young people. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 42, 393–399. https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494814525004.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
LIWC. (2016). Dictionaries on LIWC. Retrieved from http://liwc.wpengine.com/compare-dictionaries/. Accessed 3 Jan 2019.
McDougall, P., & Vaillancourt, T. (2015). Long-term adult outcomes of peer victimization in childhood and adolescence: pathways to adjustment and maladjustment. American Psychologist, 70, 300.
Article Google Scholar
Moreno, M. A., Suthamjariya, N., & Selkie, E. (2018). Stakeholder perceptions of cyberbullying cases: application of the uniform definition of bullying. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 62, 444–449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.11.289.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
National Academies of Sciences, E. a. M. (2016). Preventing bullying science, policy, and practice. Retrieved from Washington, DC.
Olweus, D. (2013). School bullying: development and some important challenges. Annual Review of Psychology, 9, 751–780.
Article Google Scholar
Ortega-Ruiz, R., & Nunez, J. C. (2012). Bullying and cyberbullying: research and intervention at school and social contexts. Psicothema, 24, 603–607.
PubMed Google Scholar
Palladino, B. E., Nocentini, A., & Menesini, E. (2016). Evidence-based intervention against bullying and cyberbullying: evaluation of the NoTrap! Program in two independent trials. Aggressive Behavior, 42, 194–206. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21636.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Pappas, S. (2015). Cyberbullying and depression go hand in hand according to new study. Huffington Post. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cyberbullying-depression_n_7644934. Accessed 3 Jan 2019.
Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2006). Bullies move beyond the schoolyard a preliminary look at cyberbullying. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 4, 148–169.
Article Google Scholar
Pennebaker, J. W. (1993). Putting stress into words: health, linguistic, and therapeutic implications. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31, 539–548.
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Pennebaker, J. W., & King, L. A. (1999). Linguistic styles: language use as an individual difference. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1296–1312.
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Pennebaker, J. W., Mayne, T. J., & Francis, M. E. (1997). Linguistic predictors of adaptive bereavement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 863–871.
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Pennebaker, J. W., Boyd, R. L., Jordan, K., & Balckburn, K. (2015). The development and psychometric properties of LIWC2015. Retrieved from Austin, TX.
Phillips, D. P. (1974). The influence of suggestion on suicide: substantive and theoretical implications of the Werther effect. American Sociological Review, 39, 340–354.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Rosenberg, H. J., Rosenberg, S. D., Ernstoff, M. S., Wolford, G. L., Amdur, R. J., Elshamy, M. R., . . ., Pennebaker, J. W. (2002). Expressive disclosure and health outcomes in a prostate cancer population. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 32, 37–53.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Roskar, S., Tancic Grum, A., Postuvan, V., Podlesek, A., & De Leo, D. (2017). The adaptation and implementation of guidelines for responsible media reporting on suicide in Slovenia. Zdr Varst, 56, 31–38. https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2017-0005.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Schneider, S. K., O'Donnell, L., Stueve, A., & Coulter, R. W. (2012). Cyberbullying, school bullying, and psychological distress: a regional census of high school students. American Journal of Public Health, 102, 171–177. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300308.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Slonje, R., & Smith, P. (2008). Cyberbullying: another main type of bullying? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 147–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00611.x.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Stirman, S. W., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2001). Word use in the poetry of suicidal and nonsuicidal poets. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 517–522.
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Sumner, C., Byers, A., Boochever, R., & Park, G. J. (2012). Predicting dark triad personality traits from twitter usage and a linguistic analysis of tweets. 2012 11th International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (Icmla 2012), (Vol 2, pp. 386–393). https://doi.org/10.1109/icmla.2012.218.
Tenore, M. J. (2013). Why journalists have trouble with bullying. Retrieved from https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2013/why-journalists-have-trouble-with-bullying/. Accessed 3 Jan 2019.
Ttofi, M. M., Farrington, D. P., Losel, F., & Loeber, R. (2011). Do the victims of school bullies tend to become depressed later in life? A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 3, 63–73.
Article Google Scholar
van Geel, M., Vedder, P., & Tanilon, J. (2014). Relationship between peer victimization, cyberbullying, and suicide in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 168, 435–442. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.4143.
CAS Article PubMed Google Scholar
Wardecker, B. M., Edelstein, R. S., Quas, J. A., Cordon, I. M., & Goodman, G. S. (2017). Emotion language in trauma narratives is associated with better psychological adjustment among survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 36, 628–653. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X17706940.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Wolke, D., & Lereya, S. T. (2015). Long-term effects of bullying. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 100, 879–885. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-306667.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
www.nobullying.com. (2016). The top six unforgettable cyberbullying cases ever. Retrieved from https://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/. Accessed 3 Jan 2019.
Young, R., Subramanian, R., Miles, S., Hinnant, A., & Andsager, J. L. (2017). Social representation of cyberbullying and adolescent suicide: a mixed-method analysis of news stories. Health Communication, 32, 1082–1092. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1214214.
Article PubMed Google Scholar

Download references

Funding

This study was supported by NIH grant R21HD090221.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2870 University Ave, Suite 200, Mailcode 9010, Madison, WI, 53705, USA
Megan A. Moreno & Aubrey D. Gower
Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
Heather Brittain & Tracy Vaillancourt

Authors

Megan A. Moreno
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Aubrey D. Gower
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Heather Brittain
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Tracy Vaillancourt
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Megan A. Moreno.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

No informed consent was conducted as there were no human participants.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moreno, M.A., Gower, A.D., Brittain, H. et al. Applying Natural Language Processing to Evaluate News Media Coverage of Bullying and Cyberbullying. Prev Sci 20, 1274–1283 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-019-01029-x

Download citation

Published: 14 August 2019
Issue Date: November 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-019-01029-x

Keywords

Bullying
Cyberbullying
News media
Journalists
Natural language processing