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Open research questions in Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression

1,130 gap statements mined from Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 10,926 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Prior research has focused on distinguishing perpetrators only by concurrent victimization. The study addresses the gap in subtype research by incorporating defending, together with bullying and victimization, to identify perpetrator subtypes. The study examines the social-status development of these subtypes across middle school, which has not been investigated in prior research.

    Identifying Bully-Defenders and Bully-Victims: Social Status Trajectories Across Middle School Among Chinese Adolescents · 2026 · DOI

  • There is limited knowledge about how personal and social responsibility interact during the bullying process in the specific context of Physical Education classes. Prior research has focused on the general context of school bullying, with less attention to the specific context of Physical Education.

    Associations Between Personal and Social Responsibility and Bullying Behaviours in Physical Education · 2026 · DOI

  • The study has limited generalisation due to the ALSPAC data being predominantly White, middle class, and born in the 90s. Using a single-item measure for bullying may increase measurement error and underestimate associations with mental health. The study needs to mitigate shared-rater bias and recollection bias.

    Timing effects in the association between childhood and adolescent bullying victimisation with late adolescence and emerging adulthood depressive symptoms · 2026 · DOI

  • Future studies employing a well-validated, multi-item measure of bullying, repeated across multiple timepoints across childhood and adolescence, would allow for more precise assessment of exposure and subtype-specific effects.

    Timing effects in the association between childhood and adolescent bullying victimisation with late adolescence and emerging adulthood depressive symptoms · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to control for covariates such as grade and gender in the analysis.

    Bystander Protective Behavioral Intention Against Cyberbullying Among Grade 7–8 Students: Reversal of the Bystander Effect · 2026 · DOI

  • Prior research has not examined the relationships among childhood bullying, academic satisfaction, and adult mental health outcomes in adults with disabilities. There is a lack of understanding of the long-term effects of childhood bullying on adult mental health outcomes in this population. The study aims to address this gap by investigating the relationships among these factors.

    Relationships Among Childhood Bullying, Academic Satisfaction, and Mental Health Outcomes in Adults with Disabilities · 2025 · DOI

  • The review notes that gender may be an important risk factor for cyberbullying. Socioeconomic status and participation in school-based bullying prevention programs are also considered as covariates. The review highlights the need for personalized strategies to address bullying and cyberbullying in different age groups.

    Influence and Relationship of Physical Activity before, during and after the School Day on Bullying and Cyberbullying in Young People: A Systematic Review · 2024 · DOI

  • There is a need to analyze the influence of physical activity on bullying and cyberbullying. The current literature lacks a comprehensive review of the relationship between physical activity and bullying/cyberbullying.

    Influence and Relationship of Physical Activity before, during and after the School Day on Bullying and Cyberbullying in Young People: A Systematic Review · 2024 · DOI

  • Most research on self‐overestimation focuses on cognitive domains, yet its occurrence in social contexts remains understudied.

    Inflated Peer Status Self‐Perceptions in Youth: Overestimation of Likeability and Popularity and Adjustment Outcomes · 2026 · DOI

  • Peer victimization during early schooling has been linked to executive functioning (EF), yet little is known about their longitudinal associations.

    Longitudinal bidirectional associations between executive functioning and peer victimization in the early school years: A parallel growth model approach · 2026 · DOI

  • Peer victimisation is a widespread threat to children's well‐being, yet nationally representative multidomain evidence on its correlates remains scarce.

    Peer Victimisation Among School‐Age Children in Türkiye: A Blockwise Regression Analysis of the 2022 Child Survey · 2026 · DOI

  • While its prevalence is documented, there is limited information on cyberbullying in Jordan.

    Cyberbullying and its Mental Health Impacts Among Adolescents in Jordan: The Moderating Role of Gender · 2026 · DOI

  • Although parental rejection predicts cyberbullying, mediating mechanisms remain unclear.

    Beyond Narcissism: Psychopathy, Moral Identity, and Differential Dark Triad Pathways to Cyberbullying · 2026 · DOI

  • However, the differences between various intergroup threats on the formation of these two intergroup aggressions remain unexplored.

    Unravelling the differences between collective trolling and collective cyberbullying: the impact of intergroup threats and collective narcissism on intergroup aggression in social media · 2026 · DOI

  • However, little is known about what will be required to successfully translate STAC-T into routine practice in schools.

    Implementation Strategies for a Technology-Based Bullying Bystander Intervention (STAC-T): Mixed Methods Study · 2026 · DOI

  • This type of bullying has not been thoroughly examined in tertiary school settings in Nigeria.

    Institutionalized Bullying in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria and Perceived Mental Health Impacts: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study · 2025 · DOI

  • However, it is unclear whether the immediate and long-term effects of cyberbullying differ, especially when longitudinal data on this form of bullying is lacking.

    Going viral: Investigating the short- and long-term traumatic effects of cyberbullying victimization on adolescents in schools. · 2025 · DOI

  • Limited studies have delved into the bidirectional dynamics among these variables.

    Social network sites usage, cyberbullying perpetration, and adolescent depression: A cross-lagged panel analysis. · 2025 · DOI

  • However, the neural factors responsible for aggression outcome expectation and its detrimental impact remain poorly understood.

    Neural correlates of aggression outcome expectation and their association with aggression: A surface-based morphometry study. · 2025 · DOI

  • The study notes that prior research has not analyzed the mediating role of cortisol in the association between bullying and weight status.

    Does cortisol mediate the association between school bullying and weight status in preadolescents? · 2026 · DOI

  • Explore the relationships between variables associated with students' perceptions of classroom climate and the different bullying situations that arise within the context of Physical Education, - Include the teacher's interpersonal style in the analysis, - Investigate how empowering classroom climates are associated with prosocial behaviours and their impact on personal and social responsibility in preventing…

    Associations Between Personal and Social Responsibility and Bullying Behaviours in Physical Education · 2026 · DOI

  • No formal a priori power analysis was conducted, - The sample size was limited to 236 middle school students, - The study only examined the perceived number of bystanders and its effect on protective behavioral intentions, - The study did not examine other potential factors that may influence protective behavioral…

    Bystander Protective Behavioral Intention Against Cyberbullying Among Grade 7–8 Students: Reversal of the Bystander Effect · 2026 · DOI

  • Managing the risks associated with the use of technologies in a digital learning environment. Providing teachers with specific skills to manage these risks. Addressing the gap in digital safety training received by teachers.

    Digital and Mediation Competence for Students’ Safe Use of the Internet: Enhancing Teacher Training · 2024 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the digital safety training received by teachers. Differences emerged based on school type and educational stage, with secondary school and special education teachers receiving more training. Teachers generally reported moderate to high digital competence, though those with greater teaching experience perceived themselves as less digitally competent.

    Digital and Mediation Competence for Students’ Safe Use of the Internet: Enhancing Teacher Training · 2024 · DOI

  • Given these gaps in knowledge, we examined the temporal associations among bullying perpetration, self‐reported popularity, and negative approval seeking…

    Between and Within Person Associations Among Bullying, Self‐Perceived Popularity, and Negative Approval Seeking Across Adolescence · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) The study examines the social-status development of these subtypes across middle school, which has not been investigated in prior research (“Identifying Bully-Defenders and Bully-Victims: Social Status Trajectories…”, 2026); (2) There is limited knowledge about how personal and social responsibility interact during the bullying process in the specific context of Physical Education classes (“Associations Between Personal and Social Responsibility and Bullying Behaviours…”, 2026); (3) Most research on self‐overestimation focuses on cognitive domains, yet its occurrence in social contexts remains understudied (“Inflated Peer Status Self‐Perceptions in Youth: Overestimation of Likeability…”, 2026); (4) Peer victimization during early schooling has been linked to executive functioning (EF), yet little is known about their longitudinal associations (“Longitudinal bidirectional associations between executive functioning and peer…”, 2026); (5) Peer victimisation is a widespread threat to children's well‐being, yet nationally representative multidomain evidence on its correlates remains scarce (“Peer Victimisation Among School‐Age Children in Türkiye: A Blockwise Regression…”, 2026). 1,130 gap statements have been mined from Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 10,926 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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