Cyberbullying among adolescents: Mapping 25 years of global research

Abstract

Adolescent cyberbullying has evolved into a significant public health and governance challenge in digital environments. This study provides a systematic bibliometric mapping of 1,202 peer-reviewed articles published between 2001 and 2025, examining the intellectual structure and thematic development of the field. By using Scopus for data retrieval and VOSviewer for co-occurrence analysis, the study identifies publication trends, influential contributors, institutional patterns, and six dominant thematic clusters. Findings indicate a sustained growth in research output, particularly after 2015, with a strong concentration on mental health outcomes, victimisation, and psychosocial risks. Emerging themes include minority vulnerability, cyber dating violence, artificial intelligence-based detection systems, and digital prevention strategies. However, governance constructs such as platform accountability, regulatory oversight, and algorithmic transparency remain comparatively peripheral. The study highlights the need for stronger integration of organisational, institutional, and socio-technical perspectives to complement individual-level research and inform coordinated policy, educational, and platform-based interventions.