Traditional bullying and Cyberbullying during the COVID- 19 Pandemic in Spanish America

Martínez J.M.F.; de Trujillo A.V.; Martinez J.A.F.; Montesinos C.C.Z.; Alejo O.V.P.; García A.E.O. · Revista del Hospital Psiquiatrico de la Habana (2025)

Resumen

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic changed the routine, the family and social interaction and relationships of children and adolescents all over the world, including bullying and cyberbullying, with significant impact on their mental health. Objective: Describe the prevalence of bullying (traditional and cybernetic) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spanish America. Methods: A systematic review was carried out in accordance with the PRISMA framework guidelines. The population consisted of students attending regular basic educational institutions (primary or secondary level) in Spanish American countries. The search for published studies was conducted in journals indexed in SciELO, PubMed, and Scopus. Studies from January, 2020 to February, 2025 were included. Results: 1,079 articles were found (10 in PubMed, 976 in Scopus, and 62 in SciELO). Five articles were included in the review. The evaluated students’ average ages were between 10.81 and 14.60 years. They attended primary and secondary schools. The prevalence of victimization due to traditional bullying varied between 23.5 % and 32.06 %, whereas cyberbullying was between 21 % and 25.09 %. Exclusive participation as aggressors varied between 4.6 % and 8.79 % in traditional bullying. Two studies had a high risk of bias in most of the design, and four in the sample and sampling. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of bullying increased with emphasis on cyberbullying. It is necessary to standardize the instruments to evaluate bullying. © Este material es publicado según los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons Atribución–NoComercial 4.0. Se permite el uso, distribución y reproducción no comerciales y sin restricciones en cualquier medio, siempre que sea debidamente citada la fuente primaria de publicación.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional San Luis Gonzaga; Universidad César Vallejo