A Scoping Review of Empirical Studies Addressing the Prevention of Cyberviolence

Abstract

With the growing use of information technology, individuals are now able to hurt others, often with little recourse due to the anonymity provided in these online spaces. Cyberviolence (CV) can cause significant psychological and even physical harm as it has the potential to spill into the offline realm. Prevention programs have been implemented to address CV among youths, though additional evidence is necessary to inform initiatives that could be implemented to prevent various forms of CV. A scoping review was thus carried out to identify and map studies on issues related to the prevention of CV among youths. The review followed PRISMA reporting guidelines, and nine electronic databases were searched. In total, 114 empirical manuscripts (119 individual studies) were identified that met the inclusion criteria of addressing a CV prevention program. Studies were most commonly quantitative (n = 86), using randomized controlled trials (n = 35) or quasi-experimental designs (n = 24), though qualitative (n = 23) and mixed-methods (n = 10) designs were also used. Findings revealed that intervention programs mainly targeted cyberbullying (n = 100), followed by cyber dating abuse (n = 4) and cyberaggression (n = 5). Other forms of CV appeared in fewer than three studies. Most frequently, interventions took an educative approach (n = 62), and program components were typically activities (n = 27) or lessons (n = 20). Most commonly, program objectives targeted outcomes (n = 44) or processes (n = 31), with some targeting both (n = 15). Results from our review reveal that several programs utilized strong methodological designs, offering the potential for new systematic reviews to be conducted to document the effectiveness of several types of programs targeting CV.