Testing the Bystander Intervention Model in Cyberbullying Across Students of Color and White Students

The five-step bystander intervention model (i.e., Notice, Interpret, Accept Responsibility, Know What to Do, Act) has been utilized to study intervention in traditional bullying, but not bullying bystander behavior in online contexts. Additionally, differences in how students of color and White students are involved in bystander behavior in cyberbullying have received little attention in the literature. Thus, the primary purpose of the current study was to (a) examine the factor structure of the Bystander Intervention Model in Cyberbullying (BIM-C) measure and measurement invariance across White students and students of color, (b) examine differences in engagement in five steps of the bystander intervention model between White students and students of color, and (c) test a conceptual bystander intervention separately for White students and students of color. The current study included 872 middle school and high school students (52.9% female). Results from the measurement invariance testing, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling provide evidence for measurement invariance across White students and students of color. In comparing White students and students of color, overall, there were no major differences in both the mean levels of engagement in the five steps of the bystander intervention model and in the paths between steps of the model.