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The problem
Intervention: None evaluated; this is an observational study examining associations between social media use and cyber-bullying
Who it was tested with: Young people aged 11-15 years in 42 countries (weighted n = 180,919).
Experience from people who deliver programmes: stories, case studies and lessons learned. Valuable for understanding how and why, and for spotting what to test next, but not a measure of effect.
"We used data on young people aged 11-15 years (weighted n = 180,919 in 42 countries) who participated in the 2017-2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study... Relationships between SMU and cyber-bullying outcomes were estimated using Poisson regression." The cross-sectional design with regression analysis examines associations between exposure and outcomes but cannot determine causal direction or attribution.
Cross-sectional design cannot establish causation. Large variation across countries (19-86% of countries showed associations) limits generalizability. The study identifies correlations, not causal pathways, so it remains unclear whether social media use increases cyber-bullying risk or vice versa.
Across countries and designs
27 studies · 24 countries
