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

Autor: Anna Sorrentino, Francesco Sulla, Margherita Santamato, Marco di Furia, Giusi Antonia Toto, Lucia Monacis
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 20:5825
ISSN: 1660-4601
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20105825
Popis: 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.
Databáze: OpenAIRE