Bullying, Peer Victimization, and Cyberbullying: Implications for Child and Adolescent Health and Healthcare

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue, entitled “Bullying, Peer Victimization, and Cyberbullying: Implications for Child and Adolescent Health and Healthcare”. Bullying and peer victimization remain major public health, educational, and psychosocial concerns affecting children and adolescents worldwide. In recent years, cyberbullying and digitally mediated peer aggression have emerged as particularly pressing issues due to the rapid expansion of social media, online communication, and digital interaction among youth. A growing body of research has demonstrated that experiences of peer victimization are associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes, including anxiety, depression, loneliness, emotional distress, difficulties with sleeping, academic maladjustment, social withdrawal, and reduced well-being. At the same time, important questions remain regarding the developmental, psychological, educational, familial, and social factors that may either increase vulnerability or promote resilience. Given the increasing prevalence and evolving forms of peer aggression in both offline and online environments, further interdisciplinary research is urgently needed to better understand these phenomena, and in turn to support effective prevention and intervention efforts. Beyond their psychosocial consequences, bullying and peer victimization have important implications for healthcare systems and services. Exposure to peer aggression has been linked to increased mental health needs, psychosomatic symptoms, sleep disturbances, self-harm risk, healthcare utilization, and long-term health inequalities. Understanding the mechanisms through which bullying affects health outcomes is essential for informing prevention strategies, early identification efforts, and multidisciplinary interventions involving healthcare professionals, schools, families, and communities.

This Special Issue aims to advance scientific understanding of bullying, peer victimization, and cyberbullying and their implications for child and adolescent physical health, mental health, well-being, healthcare utilization, and preventive healthcare practices. It focuses on psychological, educational, developmental, social, and public health perspectives, in line with the scope of Healthcare. Submissions should demonstrate clear implications for healthcare, including physical and mental health outcomes, preventive strategies, healthcare services, healthcare policy, or evidence-based support for children and adolescents affected by peer aggression.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Mental and physical health consequences of peer aggression;
• Healthcare utilization, service needs, and healthcare support for victimized youth;
• Social media use, online peer interactions, and health-related outcomes;
• School climate, peer relationships, and health promotion;
• Emotional regulation, resilience, coping, and psychological adjustment;
• Family, school, community, and healthcare-based protective factors;
• Prevention, early intervention, and evidence-based support programs;
• Relational aggression, social exclusion, and psychosocial well-being;
• Public health approaches to bullying prevention and intervention;
• Mental health screening, assessment, and early identification of at-risk youth;
• Child and adolescent well-being in digital environments;
• Health inequalities, vulnerable populations, and peer victimization;

Multidisciplinary approaches integrating education, mental health, and healthcare services are encouraged, and both original research articles and review papers are welcome.

We would appreciate it if you could indicate your interest in contributing a manuscript; a tentative title or topic would be helpful.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Nafsika Antoniadou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.