Preventing and Mitigating the Psychological Harm of Cyberbullying

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 January 2026 | Viewed by 2855

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences (DBBS), University of Pavia, Piazza Botta 11, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: bullying; cyberbullying; gifted education; giftedness; gifted children; social and emotional learning; resilience; parent training; psychological assessment; health psychology; interpersonal communication; metacognition

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: cyberbullying; bullying; giftedness

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aims of this Special Issue are to publish research about cyberbullying, specifically research on its psychological consequences; to publish research that can provide the scientific community with new keys to understand these dynamics; and to share results that can provide tools for prevention. Submitted papers should address what risks are linked to cyberbullying and the possible ways of intervening to prevent the onset of online violence, especially in light of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a disproportionate use of social media among adolescents.

As we know, cyberbullying represents one of the greatest risks for adolescents, regardless of gender (Lee et al., 2018; Hinduja & Patchin, 2014), since they spend many hours online on social media (Livingston et al., 2011), which is their most common mode of interaction (Odgers & Jensen, 2020). Cyberbullying has major repercussions on a person’s psycho-physical well-being (Messena & Everri, 2023) and can sometimes even lead to suicide (Buelga et al., 2022). Sharing results with the scientific community that can contribute to the fight against cyberbullying through the provision of preventive interventions could help provide a basis for future research, since the results in the literature are often inconsistent.

We are pleased to invite you to publish research about cyberbullying, specifically research on its psychological consequences and risks, for this Special Issue.

To recap, this Special Issue aims to publish research that can provide the scientific community with new keys to understanding these dynamics and share results that can provide tools for prevention. Submitted papers should address the risks linked to cyberbullying and the possible ways of intervening to prevent the onset of online violence, especially in light of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a disproportionate use of social media among adolescents.

For this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include the following, though this list is not exhaustive:

  • Psychology;
  • Education;
  • Mental health.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Maria Assunta Zanetti
Dr. Carlo Marinoni
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • cyberbullying
  • time spent online
  • online risks
  • prevention
  • psychological harm

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2375 KB  
Article
Comparison of Mental Health and Quality of Life Symptom Networks in Adolescents Exposed and Not Exposed to Cyberbullying: Evidence from Chinese High School Students
by Yanzhe Zhang, Yushun Han and Kaiyu Guan
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(11), 1498; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15111498 - 4 Nov 2025
Viewed by 577
Abstract
With the widespread use of the internet, cyberbullying has become a significant issue affecting adolescents’ mental health and quality of life. This study utilized propensity score matching (PSM) and network analysis to compare the mental health and quality of life symptom networks of [...] Read more.
With the widespread use of the internet, cyberbullying has become a significant issue affecting adolescents’ mental health and quality of life. This study utilized propensity score matching (PSM) and network analysis to compare the mental health and quality of life symptom networks of Chinese high school students who had experienced cyberbullying and those who had not. A total of 9066 students were assessed using the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) and the Chinese Quality of Life Scale for Primary and Secondary School Students (QLSCA). Network comparison tests revealed significant structural differences (M = 0.2136, p < 0.05), with the cyberbullying group showing higher global network strength (11.985 vs. 10.700, p < 0.05), indicating a more densely connected symptom network. In both groups, “self-satisfaction” was the most central node, but the cyberbullying group exhibited higher centrality for “negative emotion” and “self-concept” compared to anxiety and depression in the non-cyberbullying group. Key bridging symptoms differed: “academic attitude” in the non-cyberbullying group and “opportunity for activity” in those who had experienced cyberbullying. Moreover, the connection strength between “interpersonal sensitivity” and “negative emotion” was stronger in the cyberbullying group. These findings suggest that targeted interventions should focus on emotional regulation and social activity to disrupt the symptom network cycle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preventing and Mitigating the Psychological Harm of Cyberbullying)
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17 pages, 304 KB  
Article
Cyberbullying Based on Social Stigmas and Social, Emotional and Moral Competencies
by Antonio J. Rodríguez-Hidalgo, Victoria S. Camargo and Almudena Hurtado-Mellado
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(5), 646; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15050646 - 9 May 2025
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Abstract
Cyberbullying is a violent phenomenon that threatens health and development in adolescence. Some studies suggest that minority groups or those who deviate from socially desirable characteristics are at a greater risk of cyberbullying. However, there have been few studies on social stigma-based cyberbullying [...] Read more.
Cyberbullying is a violent phenomenon that threatens health and development in adolescence. Some studies suggest that minority groups or those who deviate from socially desirable characteristics are at a greater risk of cyberbullying. However, there have been few studies on social stigma-based cyberbullying (SSB). This study aims to carry out the following: to know the prevalence of roles of involvement in cyberbullying and SSB cyberbullying; to understand the possible relationships between SSB cybervictimization and SSB cyberaggression and the different dimensions of moral disengagement, moral emotions and social and emotional competencies; and to know the possible statistical associations between roles and the variables described above. A total of 601 secondary school students took part in this study, aged 12–19 (M = 14.22, SD = 1.355). A self-report battery of scales was employed to measure the constructs under investigation, and various statistical analyses were conducted. The results show that 22.29% are recognized as cybervictims, 7.82% as cyberaggressors and 35.11% as cybervictims/cyberaggressors in general cyberbullying. In SSB cyberbullying, the percentages were 20.30%, 3% and 8.32%, respectively. Moreover, it was revealed that SSB cyberaggression was related to moral disengagement and SSB cybervictimization was related to moral emotions. Social competence and emotional competence were positively related to social stigma-based cybervictimization. The results are discussed and new lines of research and interventions focused on social competences and moral emotions are proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preventing and Mitigating the Psychological Harm of Cyberbullying)
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