IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i10p5825-d1147317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization Prevalence among Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Sorrentino

    (Department of Psychology, University of Campania, Luigi Vanvitelli, 81100 Caserta, Italy)

  • Francesco Sulla

    (Department of Humanities, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy)

  • Margherita Santamato

    (Department of Psychology, University of Campania, Luigi Vanvitelli, 81100 Caserta, Italy)

  • Marco di Furia

    (Department of Humanities, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy)

  • Giusi Antonia Toto

    (Department of Humanities, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy)

  • Lucia Monacis

    (Department of Humanities, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy)

Abstract

In light of the alarming results emerging from some studies and reports on the significant increase in aggressive online behaviors among children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, the current research aimed at providing a more detailed evaluation of the investigations focusing on the cyberbullying prevalence rates published between 2020 and 2023. To this purpose, systematic searches were conducted on four databases (Web of Science, APA PsycInfo, Scopus and Google Scholar), and following PRISMA guidelines, 16 studies were included and qualitatively reviewed. Although studies were characterized by a large variety in cyberbullying operationalization and measurement, and by different methodologies used for data collection, the prevalence rates of the involvement in cyberbullying and/or cybervictimization generally revealed opposite trends: an increase in many Asian countries and Australia and a decrease in Western countries. The findings were also discussed by considering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, some suggestions were provided to policy makers for promoting prevention and intervention anti-cyberbullying programs in school contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Sorrentino & Francesco Sulla & Margherita Santamato & Marco di Furia & Giusi Antonia Toto & Lucia Monacis, 2023. "Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization Prevalence among Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:10:p:5825-:d:1147317
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5825/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5825/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jorge J. Varela & Cristóbal Hernández & Rafael Miranda & Christopher P. Barlett & Matías E. Rodríguez-Rivas, 2022. "Victims of Cyberbullying: Feeling Loneliness and Depression among Youth and Adult Chileans during the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Antonio Tintori & Giulia Ciancimino & Giorgio Giovanelli & Loredana Cerbara, 2021. "Bullying and Cyberbullying among Italian Adolescents: The Influence of Psychosocial Factors on Violent Behaviours," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-11, February.
    3. Yeon-Jun Choi & So Young Shin & Julak Lee, 2022. "Change in Factors Affecting Cyberbullying of Korean Elementary School Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-8, September.
    4. Ana María Martínez-Martínez & Remedios López-Liria & José Manuel Aguilar-Parra & Rubén Trigueros & María José Morales-Gázquez & Patricia Rocamora-Pérez, 2020. "Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Cybervictimization, and Academic Performance in Secondary School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-12, October.
    5. Lingbo Zhao & Yingru Wu & Xiayu Huang & Lin Zhang, 2022. "Network Anonymity and Cyberbullying among Chinese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-11, January.
    6. So Young Shin & Yeon-Jun Choi, 2021. "Comparison of Cyberbullying before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-11, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Galina Soldatova & Svetlana Chigarkova & Elena Rasskazova, 2024. "Collisions and Perceptions of Cyberbullying: Comparison of Intergenerational Experiences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-23, August.
    2. Catrin Johansson & Britt Hedman Ahlström & Marijana Barac & Therese Berglund & Kourosh Bador & Nóra Kerekes, 2024. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Swedish Adolescents’ Mental Health, Psychosocial Functioning, Risk Behaviours, and Victimisation: Gender Differences and Implications," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(5), pages 1-19, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bárbara Machado & Paula Lobato de Faria & Isabel Araújo & Sónia Caridade, 2024. "Cyber Interpersonal Violence: Adolescent Perspectives and Digital Practices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(7), pages 1-22, June.
    2. Karla Dhungana Sainju & Huda Zaidi & Niti Mishra & Akosua Kuffour, 2022. "Xenophobic Bullying and COVID-19: An Exploration Using Big Data and Qualitative Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-19, April.
    3. Yijing Zhang & Ji-Kang Chen, 2023. "Emotional Intelligence and School Bullying Victimization in Children and Youth Students: A Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-16, March.
    4. Qiong Wang & Xiao Luo & Ruilin Tu & Tao Xiao & Wei Hu, 2022. "COVID-19 Information Overload and Cyber Aggression during the Pandemic Lockdown: The Mediating Role of Depression/Anxiety and the Moderating Role of Confucian Responsibility Thinking," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-16, January.
    5. Sarah E. Domoff & Stacey B. Armstrong & Heide Rollings & Amy Mancuso & Mary B. Pacheco & Russell Fridson & Carol A. Janney, 2024. "Problematic and Harmful Social Media Use among Adolescents Receiving Intensive Psychiatric Care," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(10), pages 1-14, October.
    6. Omar A. Alismaiel, 2023. "Digital Media Used in Education: The Influence on Cyberbullying Behaviors among Youth Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-19, January.
    7. David Aparisi & Beatriz Delgado & Rosa M. Bo & María Carmen Martínez-Monteagudo, 2021. "Relationship between Cyberbullying, Motivation and Learning Strategies, Academic Performance, and the Ability to Adapt to University," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-12, October.
    8. Wang, Lin & Jiang, Shan & Zhou, Ziyao & Fei, Wanyan & Wang, Wanyi, 2024. "Online disinhibition and adolescent cyberbullying: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    9. Ying Guo & Hongyu Zhang & Yufei Xie & Xin Tian & Na Luo & Yan Zhang, 2022. "A Cross-Sectional Survey of National Chinese College Students’ Mental Status during COVID-19 Pandemic: Using a Compiled Stress Response Questionnaire," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, September.
    10. Li, Wanqi, 2024. "“Amusing ourselves to death”: Mechanisms in cyberbullying prompted by rumors and denigration amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Christoph Burger & Lea Bachmann, 2021. "Perpetration and Victimization in Offline and Cyber Contexts: A Variable- and Person-Oriented Examination of Associations and Differences Regarding Domain-Specific Self-Esteem and School Adjustment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-21, October.
    12. Antonio Tintori & Giulia Ciancimino & Ilaria Bombelli & Daniele De Rocchi & Loredana Cerbara, 2023. "Children’s Online Safety: Predictive Factors of Cyberbullying and Online Grooming Involvement," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:10:p:5825-:d:1147317. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.