Open research questions in Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression

What the literature leaves open

• limited systematic reviews synthesizing global evidence on the prevalence of bullying victimization and its microsystem risk factors - a need to explore the risk factors associated with bullying victimization to inform effective prevention strategies

  A Systematic Review of the Prevalence and Microsystem Risk Factors of Bullying Victimization Among Adolescents · 2026 · DOI

• Existing studies have varying prevalence estimates of cyberbullying among university students. There is a need to examine the longitudinal relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and cyberbullying-related online aggression. The study aims to address this gap by investigating the relationship among university students.

  The longitudinal relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and the university student cyberbullying related online aggression · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in understanding the impact of cyberbullying on the mental health of individuals, particularly in the context of online communities. It highlights the need to address cyberbullying as a public health problem with strong associations to mental disorders.

  Daniel Naroditsky: cyberbullying story of an online speed chess genius · 2026 · DOI

• Prior work has focused on single psychological symptoms, but the study aims to explore multiple psychological symptoms. The study examines the moderating role of psychological resilience, which is a gap in prior research. The study explores the diversity effect of psychological resilience on the relationship between bullying victimization and multiple psychological symptoms.

  The Diversity Effect of Psychological Resilience on the Relationship between Bullying Victimization and Multiple Psychological Symptoms Among Chinese Adolescents: A Large-Scale Regional Study · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need to explore the relationships between bystander roles and individual, familial, and societal factors in the context of cyberbullying. The study aims to address the gap by examining differences across gender and migration status.

  Personal, Familial, and Social Predictors of Bystander Roles in Cyberbullying: A Multi-Group SEM Analysis by Gender and Migration Status · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies challenges in emotion regulation and psychological adaptation during adolescence. The paper notes the importance of minimizing participant attrition due to grade promotion or school transfer. The study also acknowledges the need to handle missing data using Bayesian estimation.

  The Waterfall of Emotional Reactivity and the Clouds of Peer Victimization: Developmental Mechanisms of Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems · 2026 · DOI

• Further research should investigate the mechanisms underlying the relationships between ER, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and peer victimization - Longitudinal studies with larger samples and longer follow-up periods are needed to confirm the findings - Research should also explore the potential applications of the study's findings in clinical and educational settings

  The Waterfall of Emotional Reactivity and the Clouds of Peer Victimization: Developmental Mechanisms of Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems · 2026 · DOI

• One challenge is the lack of standardization in the measurement of violence-related outcomes. Another challenge is the limited understanding of how to address discrimination, racism, and structural determinants in youth violence prevention programs. The paper also identifies the challenge of evaluating the modification of determinants at community and structural levels.

  Discrimination, Racism, and Structural Determinants in Youth Violence Prevention Programs: A Scoping Review and Intervention Component Analysis · 2026 · DOI

• The published literature lacks knowledge around interventions aimed at preventing youth violence through modifiable factors at wide-reaching structural levels. There is a need for a comprehensive examination of the intervention components of youth violence prevention programs. The gap in the literature is the lack of understanding of how violence-related outcomes are operationalized and measured.

  Discrimination, Racism, and Structural Determinants in Youth Violence Prevention Programs: A Scoping Review and Intervention Component Analysis · 2026 · DOI

• insufficient reporting in 54.8% of cases, - lack of control over other factors that may influence intervention effectiveness, - reliance on self-reported data from school personnel

  How Adherence to an Evidence-Based Targeted Intervention Procedure is Related to Intervention Effectiveness? · 2026 · DOI

• further study on the effects of adaptations and omissions on intervention effectiveness, - investigation of factors that influence adherence to evidence-based procedures, - development of strategies to improve adherence to intervention guidelines

  How Adherence to an Evidence-Based Targeted Intervention Procedure is Related to Intervention Effectiveness? · 2026 · DOI

• The study employed a cross-sectional design, which does not permit firm conclusions regarding causality. The sample size was limited, with a target sample size of approximately 269 participants. The study used self-report measures, which may be subject to biases.

  Influence of social exclusion on aggressive behavior among specialized school students: the mediating roles of relative deprivation and deviant peer affiliation · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need to understand the relationship between social exclusion and aggressive behavior among students in specialized schools. The mediating roles of relative deprivation and deviant peer affiliation are not well understood.

  Influence of social exclusion on aggressive behavior among specialized school students: the mediating roles of relative deprivation and deviant peer affiliation · 2026 · DOI

• Future studies could explore the longitudinal relationships between bullying victimization, social network site addiction, and mental health outcomes. Future research could investigate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing social network site addiction and promoting mental health among adolescents. Future studies could examine the role of other factors, such as social support and parental involvement, in the relationship between bullying victimization and social network site addiction.

  The central mediating effect of inhibitory control and negative emotion on the relationship between bullying victimization and social network site addiction in adolescents · 2025 · DOI

• Conducting more neuropsychological studies to explore the underlying mechanism can lead to developing new rehabilitation strategies to help the vulnerable population, - Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies should be promoted to understand the underpinnings of emotional dysregulation in the adolescent population following cyberbullying

  Neurobiology of emotional regulation in cyberbullying victims · 2025 · DOI

• There is a lack of evidence-based literature on the effect of cyberbullying on the brain. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies are needed to understand the underpinnings of emotional dysregulation in the adolescent population following cyberbullying. The cognitive flexibility in adapting positive emotional regulation strategies needs to be studied in detail.

  Neurobiology of emotional regulation in cyberbullying victims · 2025 · DOI

• There is a lack of understanding about the association between parental migration and cyberbullying victimization. Prior studies have focused on school bullying victimization, but not cyberbullying victimization. The study aims to fill this gap by exploring the association between parental migration and cyberbullying victimization among Chinese left-behind children.

  Parental migration and cyberbullying victimization among Chinese left-behind children: understanding the association and mediating factors · 2024 · DOI

• The study identifies the challenge of measuring peer victimization and its effects on mental health symptoms. There is a need to develop effective interventions to prevent or mitigate the negative consequences of peer victimization. The research highlights the importance of considering the role of parental warmth and prosocial school environment in buffering the link between peer victimization and mental health symptoms.

  Longitudinal study of peer victimization, social support, and mental health during early adolescence · 2024 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in understanding how parents and school environments can buffer the negative consequences of peer victimization on mental health outcomes. There is a need to investigate the longitudinal associations between peer victimization and mental health symptoms in early adolescence.

  Longitudinal study of peer victimization, social support, and mental health during early adolescence · 2024 · DOI

• Further research is needed to examine the associations among childhood psychological maltreatment, subjective well-being, difficulty describing feelings, and cyberbullying-related online aggression, - Research should investigate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and cyberbullying-related online aggression

  The longitudinal relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and the university student cyberbullying related online aggression · 2026 · DOI

• Finally, we argue that the current debate reveals a fundamental theoretical problem: without precise specifications of mechanisms, developmental patterns, and falsifiable predictions, GAM risks unfalsifiability when contradictory findings can all be accommodated as supporting evidence.

  Analytical Robustness and Competing Interpretations in Violent Video Game Research: A Response to Teng and Bushman's (2026) Reanalysis of Lacko et al. (2024) · 2026 · DOI

• ABSTRACT While evidence indicates a connection between bullying involvement (perpetration and victimization) and peer relationships, the direction of this relationship remains debated.

  The Bidirectional Relationship Between Bullying Perpetration/Victimization and Peer Relationships: Evidence From a Weekly Diary Method · 2026 · DOI

• Nonphysical aggression and victimization are common in adolescence, yet their long-term associations remain poorly understood, particularly with regard to within-person processes.

  Disentangling Between‐ and Within‐Person Effects of Nonphysical Aggression and Nonphysical Victimization Over Time in Adolescence · 2026 · DOI

• Despite its relevance, there is limited evidence on the prevalence of appearance‐based bullying and how teachers' responses shape perceptions of school safety for students whose appearance deviates from dominant standards.

  Perceptions of School Safety and Teachers' Responses in the Context of Appearance‐Based Bullying: A Short‐Term Longitudinal Study · 2026 · DOI

• However, the complex interplay among neuroticism, bullying perpetration and NSSI remains underexplored.

  Hurt Others or Hurt Self? Reciprocal Relations Among Neuroticism and Bullying Perpetration/Non‐Suicidal Self‐Injury Over Time · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression

• The Aggression Questionnaire. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 1992 · 5,070 citations
• Human Aggression · Annual Review of Psychology · 2002 · 3,432 citations
• Bullying Behaviors Among US Youth · JAMA · 2001 · 2,620 citations
• Cyberbullying: its nature and impact in secondary school pupils · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · 2008 · 2,499 citations
• Bullying in the digital age: A critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying research among youth. · Psychological Bulletin · 2014 · 2,489 citations
• Twenty Years' Research on Peer Victimization and Psychosocial Maladjustment: A Meta‐analytic Review of Cross‐sectional Studies · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · 2000 · 1,892 citations
• Following you home from school: A critical review and synthesis of research on cyberbullying victimization · Computers in Human Behavior · 2010 · 1,813 citations
• Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 1987 · 1,807 citations
• Cyberostracism: Effects of being ignored over the Internet. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 2000 · 1,790 citations
• Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries: A meta-analytic review. · Psychological Bulletin · 2010 · 1,445 citations

Most recent work

• Disconnect To Reconnect: How Variations between Types of Smartphone Bans Influence Students’ Well-being and Social Connectedness in Dutch Secondary Education · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · 2026
• The profile of a student’s sense of (un)safety at school: social, emotional, and academic dimensions · Frontiers in Education · 2026
• The effect of motivational interviewing-supported health education on digital game addiction and cyberbullying behaviors in adolescents: A randomized controlled trial · Public Health · 2026
• The Effects of Social Responsibility and Moral Disengagement on Within‐Person Change in Reactive Aggression: A Perspective of Protective Personality Against Aggression · Journal of Personality · 2026
• Cognitive mechanisms underlying within-person changes in aggression among adolescents: The roles of positive outcome expectancies and moral disengagement · European Journal of Personality · 2026
• Cyberbullying among high school students: digital literacy as a protective factor? · Social Psychology of Education · 2026
• Reshaping Digital Social Reality in the AI Era: A Data-Driven Analysis of University Students’ Exposure to Digital Harassment in Emerging Countries · Societies · 2026
• Bullying in education · OECD education working papers · 2026
• Relationships Between Peer Bullying, Short Video Addiction, Sleep Deprivation, and Life Satisfaction in School-Aged Children · Children and Youth Services Review · 2026
• Reciprocal Relationships between Bullying Victimization and Prosocial Behavior and the Mediating Role of Self-Esteem among Chinese Boys and Girls: An RI-CLPM Study · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · 2026

Related topics in Psychology