As a special appointment through the Consortium Research Fellows Program, Chowan University’s Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Ashley N. Doane now has the distinguished accolade as a Senior Research Consortium Fellow assisting the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

According to their website, the Consortium Research Fellows Program, or CRFP, is a partnership between the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area and several Department of Defense agencies. The CRFP fosters a strong relationship between the higher education community and the DoD. Professors lend their specialized expertise to DoD projects and widen the scope of their research.

Doane was honored with this new appointment for her valued research into cyberbullying to address the topic of cyberbullying among soldiers. Doane was specifically requested by a senior researcher at the U.S. Army Research Institute for this contracted project.

“I was asked to write a 10-15 page white paper addressing questions they had about cyberbullying,” Doane stated. “This white paper reviews traditional bullying and cyberbullying research with a focus on young adults.”

The multi-faceted report first defined cyberbullying, then gave an overview of factors unique to emerging adults and workplace bullying, as well as limited research on bullying in the military.

“Cyberbullying has been linked to a number of mental health and behavioral problems,” Doane related. “Although cyberbullying is often viewed as an issue among youth, cyberbullying has also been experienced and perpetrated by adults.”

Doane offered comparisons between traditional bullying and cyberbullying and then reviewed recent studies examining cyberbullying, including its prevalence, consequences, predictors, and prevention or intervention strategies. Doane also concluded with recommendations for future research on cyberbullying among soldiers.

“Based on my previous work on cyberbullying prevention programs targeting college students, they were interested in my recommendations for addressing this important topic among soldiers,” explained Doane.

Speaking to her expertise on the topic of cyberbullying, Doane’s other professional activities for 2013 and 2014 have included her membership in the International Society for Research on Aggression, the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, and the Society for Research on Child Development.

Dr. Doane had her work, A Development of the Cyberbullying Experiences Survey, published in the September 2013 journal of Emerging Adulthood. Dr. Doane also presented her work Testing of a Peer-Delivered Cyberbullying Prevention Program for College Students at the 26th annual Association for Psychological Science Convention in San Francisco, CA in May 2014.

In July 2014, Dr. Doane gave two presentations at the 21st World Meeting of the International Society for Research on Aggression held in Atlanta, Predictors of Cyberbullying Perpetration among College Students: An Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action and her work Testing of an In-Person Cyberbullying Video Prevention Program for College Students.

Dr. Doane was also recently honored with Chowan University’s 2014 McDowell Columns Scholar Prize during the annual Celebration of Faculty Scholarship and Creative Achievement in November.