Cyberbullying and Children and Young People's Mental Health: A Systematic Map of Systematic Reviews.

CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING Volume 23, Number 2, 2020 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2019.0370 REVIEW Cyberbullying and Children and Young People’s Mental Health: A Systematic Map of Systematic Reviews Irene Kwan, MSc,1 Kelly Dickson, PhD,1 Michelle Richardson, PhD,1 Wendy MacDowall, MSc,2 Helen Burchett, PhD,2 Claire Stansfield, PhD,1 Ginny Brunton, PhD,1 Katy Sutcliffe, PhD,1 and James Thomas, PhD1 Abstract Cyberbullying is associated with considerable negative mental and psychosocial consequences in children and young people, making it a serious public health concern. To review the highest level of available evidence, a systematic mapping review was conducted to identify systematic reviews that investigated the relationship between cyberbullying and mental and psychological outcomes in young people. Topic-relevant bibliographic databases and online resources were searched to identify reviews published since 2007. Data were extracted using a coding tool developed for this study. Methodological quality of included reviews was assessed using AMSTAR criteria. Nineteen systematic reviews satisfied the inclusion criteria and they reported a strong negative association between cyberbullying and mental health outcomes in young people. Meta-analysis was performed in 11 reviews and narrative synthesis in 8 reviews. Data were derived from predominantly cross-sectional studies and a clear causal relationship between cyberbullying and mental outcomes cannot be established. Two-third of the included reviews were classified to be of low or unclear quality, due to the lack of quality assessment of the primary studies included in individual reviews. This systematic map consolidates available evidence at review level and confirms the existing gaps in longitudinal and qualitative evidence synthesis. Closer examination of the moderating factors influencing cyberbullying behaviors in future research can advance our understanding and inform the development of tailored programs of intervention to mitigate the negative impact of this phenomenon. Keywords: cyberbullying, children and adolescence, mental health effects, psychosocial well-being, systematic map Internet usage among CYP is highlighted by recent statistics. For example, in the United Kingdom, 99 percent of 12–15-year olds are now online.4 In the United States, 88 percent of teens have access to a desktop or laptop computer,5 95 percent have access to various platforms through smartphones, and 45 percent say they are online ‘‘almost constantly.’’6 Despite the benefits and opportunities afforded by Internet-enabled mobile technologies, there have been concerns about the growing rate of harmful online activities involving deliberate malice and harassment against CYP, such as cyberbullying. Social media platforms are very popular among teens and cyberbullying is reported to be Introduction I nternet-enabled electronic devices occupy a central part of the lives of many people, in particular, children and young people (CYP); from the use of computers and smartphones for school work and gaming to connecting with friends through social media.1,2 Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and android in 2008, the technical functionality of screen-based devices has become more mobile and interactive, and so have their pervasiveness and use, leading to a rise in ownership of electronic devices by CYP from as young as three years of age.3,4 The near-universal 1 Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Coordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre), Department of Social Science, Institute of Education, University College London, London, United Kingdom. 2 Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom. ª Irene Kwan et al. 2020; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 72 A SYSTEMATIC MAP OF CYBERBULLYING most widespread on social media.7,8 Snapchat and Instagram have now overtaken Facebook in its popularity among young teens.9 National media coverage of teenage self-harm and suicides linked to cyberbullying has raised its political profile.10,11 Amid grave concerns shared by educators, health care professionals, parents, and CYP about online violence and internet safety, the U.K. government published the Digital Charter in 201812 to set new rules and norms for the online world and launched an inquiry into the impact of social media and screen use on young people’s mental health and wellbeing.13,14 This called for a duty of care on all social media companies in the form of a statutory code of conduct and transparent reporting.15 It is anticipated that new legislative measures will be implemented to ensure that internet platforms remove harmful content and prioritize the protection of users, especially children, young people, and vulnerable adults. There is currently no consensus for what constitutes cyberbullying in the literature, with the use of a variety of related terms such as ‘‘cyber-aggression,’’ ‘‘internet harassment,’’ ‘‘online bullying,’’ and ‘‘electronic bullying,’’ making it difficult for researchers to accurately understand and distinguish the nature of cyberbullying from other forms of digital conflict and cruelty, such as online harassment and sexual harassment.16,17 In addition, cyberbullying has not been established as a causal precursor to satisfy the diagnostic criteria for mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder in DSM-V or ICD-10.18,19 However, most definitions of cyberbullying are modeled on the more widely accepted definition of traditional bullying,16 defined as acts of aggression that are repeated over time and that involve a power imbalance between the perpetrator and his or her targets.20 There seems to be some degree of similarity between traditional bullying and cyberbullying21 as both are reliably correlated,22,23 with cyberbullying being a continuation of traditional bullying executed through digital means.24–26 However, cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying as it involves a more extreme invasion of personal space, compounded by the potential anonymity provided to the perpetrator and the ability to harass regardless of the time of day,27,28 or the victim’s whereabouts. It intrudes into spaces that have previously been regarded as safe and personal, such as the private environment of the home.27,29 There are various definitions of cyberbullying used in research.8,25,28–33 To unite the inconsistent definitions in literature, Tokunaga34 proposed the following: Cyberbullying is any behavior performed through electronic or digital media by individuals or groups that repeatedly communicates hostile or aggressive messages intended to (...truncated)