Insights from Our Symposium at the World Anti-Bullying Forum
Last month marked a highly anticipated event for professionals working to prevent bullying and cyberbullying. The fifth World Anti-Bullying Forum (WABF) was held on June 11–13 by the Norwegian Centre for Learning Environment and Behavioural Research in Education at the University of Stavanger (UiS), Norway.
Over 700 researchers, policymakers, teachers, professional educators, students, and other stakeholders from around the world came together to share insights, research, and strategies for addressing bullying. Discussions ranged from practical challenges to theoretical frameworks, with a shared goal of paving the way for future research and effective interventions.
The WABF is a biannual international conference, first launched in 2017 by the Swedish non-profit organization Friends as part of its mission to end violence against and between children. The forum is grounded in the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the goals of Agenda 2030. It aims to foster global knowledge exchange, promote children’s rights, and make research-based solutions to bullying more accessible.
Our PARTICIPATE research group attended the forum with all PhD candidates and their supervisors. The doctoral students presented their work in two thematic symposia.
The first symposium focused on systematic review approaches and featured presentations by Meghmala Mukherjee, Luca Laszlo, and by us, Ebru Ozbek and Luisa Morello. The second symposium explored the complex contextualization of (cyber)bullying, where the remaining PhD students presented their studies.
Chaired by Professor Serap Keles, an expert in systematic review and meta-analysis, the first symposium began with Meghmala Mukherjee’s scoping review on children’s rights in the digital age and how different parental mediation styles affect them. Luisa Morello then shared her findings on cyberbullying in relation to ethnicity and Indigeneity among children and adolescents. Luca Laszlo presented results showing how children who experience or witness violence by adults are more likely to engage in peer bullying. Finally, Ebru Ozbek presented her preliminary findings from a meta-regression analysis examining how school and family factors influence the outcomes of cyberbullying victimization.
The session concluded with an engaging Q&A, where Professor Keles moderated a brief but insightful discussion with the audience.
Overall Goal of the Symposium
The goal of the symposium was to share the knowledge gained from our work in order to broaden global understanding of youth cyberbullying research. Through four systematic reviews, we explored key aspects of the phenomenon: its contexts (family, school, culture), its consequences (particularly on mental health), and moderating factors (such as parent-child communication).
Why Are Systematic Approaches Useful?
Systematic approaches are valuable because they offer a structured, evidence-based way to synthesize existing research and answer complex questions. One of the greatest strengths of systematic approaches lies in their practical relevance. They play a crucial role not only in advancing academic knowledge but also in informing real-world interventions and policy development. By bringing together all available evidence on a topic, systematic reviews support the design of targeted strategies with meaningful social impact. This makes them particularly useful for practitioners and policymakers, who rely on up-to-date, consolidated insights to guide action and allocate resources effectively.
Given the complexity of cyberbullying research, systematic approaches are especially helpful. They help disentangle the challenges that researchers face when studying such a multifaceted issue and point to areas that require deeper exploration. By clarifying what we know, what remains unclear, and how we might improve our methods of investigation, systematic reviews pave the way for more effective research and, ultimately, better solutions.
What Emerged from the Symposium?
One of the most valuable aspects of the symposium was that, while all four of us presented systematic reviews on cyberbullying, each of our studies focused on a different angle. This allowed us to collectively explore various dimensions of this complex phenomenon and to share insights across a range of contexts, including family, school, and culture.
Four key themes emerged across our reviews, including the relation between youth autonomy and adult authority, the need for cultural contextualization and inclusion of underrepresented voices—particularly those of children, ethnic minorities, and Indigenous communities—the mental health outcomes associated with cyberbullying, and the influence of contextual factors.
Our combined work offers a more holistic understanding of cyberbullying research and emphasizes the need for context-sensitive, inclusive, and evidence-based approaches.
Conclusion
For us, participating in this incredibly enlightening conference and being part of the exceptionally well-organized symposium was deeply enriching, and we were honored to contribute to such meaningful dialogue on an issue of growing importance. We are excited to be part of this field and contribute to advancing cyberbullying research that supports effective prevention and intervention strategies. Through our work, we hope to offer useful insights for both researchers and practitioners working to make a positive impact.
Luisa Morello & Ebru Ozbek
More from Project PARTICIPATE
Parental Involvement in Cyberbullying
Unveiling Algorithmic Power: Tania Bucher on Digital Influence
World Anti-Bullying Forum: Reflections
Peer Defending Benefits the Victimized, Defenders, and the Whole Classroom Community
