Adolescence and emerging adulthood are both stages in which romantic relationships play a key role in development and can be a source of both well-being and negative outcomes. However, the limited number of studies prior to adulthood, along with the multiplicity of variables involved in the romantic context and the considerable ambiguity surrounding the construct of well-being, make it difficult to reach conclusions about the relationship between the two phenomena. This systematic review synthesizes the results produced into this topic over the last three decades. A total of 112 studies were included, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines. On the one hand, these works revealed the terminological heterogeneity in research on well-being and the way the absence of symptoms of illness are commonly used to measure it, while on the other hand, they also showed that romantic relationships can be an important source of well-being for both adolescents and emerging adults. The findings underline the importance of providing a better definition of well-being, as well as to attribute greater value to the significance of romantic relationships. Devoting greater empirical, educational, and community efforts to romantic development in the stages leading up to adulthood are considered necessary actions in promoting the well-being of young people.

This study aims to examine students' perception of the term used to label cyberbullying, the perception of different forms and behaviours (written, verbal, visual, exclusion and impersonation) and the perception of the criteria used for its definition (imbalance of power, intention, repetition, anonymity and publicity) in three different European countries: Italy, Spain and Germany. Seventy adolescents took part in nine focus groups, using the same interview guide across countries. Thematic analysis focused on three main themes related to: (1) the term used to label cyberbullying, (2) the different behaviours representing cyberbullying, (3) the three traditional criteria of intentionality, imbalance of power and repetition and the two new criteria of anonymity and publicity. Results showed that the best word to label cyberbullying is ‘cyber-mobbing’ (in Germany), ‘virtual’ or ‘cyber-bullying’ (in Italy), and ‘harassment’ or ‘harassment via Internet or mobile phone’ (in Spain). Impersonation cannot be considered wholly as cyberbullying behaviour. In order to define a cyberbullying act, adolescents need to know whether the action was done intentionally to harm the victim, the effect on the victim and the repetition of the action (this latter criterion evaluated simultaneously with the publicity). Information about the anonymity and publicity contributes to better understand the nature and the severity of the act, the potential effects on the victim and the intentionality.

ResumenEl bullying es un fenómeno de agresión injustificada que actualmente sucede en dos formatos: cara a cara y como una conducta que se realiza a través de dispositivos digitales (cyberbullying). Ampliamente estudiado tanto el primero como el segundo, hay sin embargo escaso conocimiento sobre la homogeneidad de ambos problemas y no disponemos de instrumentos de medida que permitan valorar las dos dimensiones del fenómeno: la agresión y la ciberagresión, la victimización y la cibervictimización. Este trabajo presenta la validación del European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire y del European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, que evalúan la implicación en bullying y en cyberbullying, respectivamente. Ambos se han administrado a 792 estudiantes de secundaria y se han obtenido unos buenos resultados de ajuste y propiedades psicométricas. La realización de un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales ha evaluado la concurrencia y relaciones entre ambos fenómenos, encontrando la influencia del bullying sobre el cyberbullying, pero no al contrario. Estos resultados muestran la idoneidad de ambos instrumentos para evaluar de forma conjunta bullying y cyberbullying, dada su importante relación y similitud, lo que los convierten en buenas herramientas para la intervención psicoeducativa destinada a prevenir y reducir ambos fenómenos.AbstractBullying is a phenomenon of unjustified aggression which actually takes place in two formats: face to face and as a behavior that is carried out through digital devices (cyberbullying). Both have been widely studied, though currently there is little knowledge about the homogeneity of both phenomena and we do not have measuring instruments for evaluating their two dimensions: aggression and cyber-aggression, victimization and cyber-victimization. This paper presents the validation of the European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire and the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, that assess respectively the involvement in bullying and cyberbullying. Both have been administered to 792 high school students and have achieved good fit and good psychometric properties. The use of a structural equations modelling has allowed us to evaluate the concurrence and the relations between the two phenomena, finding the influence of bullying on cyberbullying, but not vice versa. These results show the suitability of the two instruments to assess together bullying and cyberbullying, given their important relationship and similarity, which makes them good tools for educational intervention to prevent and reduce both phenomena

Several criteria have been proposed for defining cyberbullying to young people, but no studies have proved their relevance. There are also variations across different countries in the meaning and the definition of this behavior. We systematically investigated the role of five definitional criteria for cyberbullying, in six European countries. These criteria (intentionality, imbalance of power, repetition, anonymity, and public vs. private) were combined through a set of 32 scenarios, covering a range of four types of behaviors (written-verbal, visual, exclusion, and impersonation). For each scenario, participants were asked whether it was cyberbullying or not. A randomized version of the questionnaire was shown to 295 Italian, 610 Spanish, 365 German, 320 Sweden, 336 Estonian, and 331 French adolescents aged 11–17 years. Results from multidimensional scaling across country and type of behavior suggested a clear first dimension characterized by imbalance of power and a clear second dimension characterized by intentionality and, at a lower level, by anonymity. In terms of differences across types of behaviors, descriptive frequencies showed a more ambiguous role for exclusion as a form of cyberbullying, but general support was given to the relevance of the two dimensions across all the types of behavior. In terms of country differences, French participants more often perceived the scenarios as cyberbullying as compared with those in other countries, but general support was found for the relevance of the two dimensions across countries.