The increasing prevalence of cyberbullying victimization has become a commonplace issue globally. Although research has explored various predictors and consequences of cyberbullying victimization, most focus on a narrow range of variables or contexts, highlighting the need to comprehensively review and synthesize the wealth of empirical findings. We conducted a systematic review of meta-analyses on cyberbullying victimization, incorporating 56 meta-analyses and 296 effect sizes (sample size range 421–1,136,080, sample size median 53,183; searched via EBSCOhost ERIC, EBSCOhost PsycInfo, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, 13 cyberbullying-related journals, Google Scholar and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses) to address the following critical questions: (1) What are the crucial sociodemographic and psychological profiles of cyberbullying victims? (2) What critical contextual and environmental factors are associated with cyberbullying victimization? (3) What are the key psychological and behavioural consequences of cyberbullying victimization? (4) How effective are existing interventions in mitigating impacts of cyberbullying? Included meta-analyses had to focus on cyberbullying victimization and report at least one predictor or consequence. A quality assessment was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Instrument for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses. Findings suggest that females, school-aged populations, traditional bullying victims and frequent internet users were more likely to be cyberbullied. Unregulated school environments and unsupportive parental relationships were also associated with increased cyberbullying victimization. Cyberbullying victimization was consistently associated with negative psychological outcomes, lower school performance and maladaptive coping behaviours. More importantly, the current review found that cyberbullying intervention programmes show promising results. The current review underscores the importance of devoting adequate resources to mitigating cyberbullying victimization.

The widespread use of smartphones has raised concerns about problematic usage behaviors, including excessive screentime and frequent phone checking, which can disrupt daily functioning. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multifaceted nudge-based intervention in reducing smartphone use through subtle changes to smartphone settings. The intervention incorporated adjustments such as disabling face/touch ID, setting longer passwords, switching to grayscale mode, and removing social media apps from the home screen. A randomized within-subject cross-over trial with counterbalancing was conducted over a two-week period using a daily diary approach paired with objective smartphone usage data to track the impact of these interventions on both smartphone screentime and checking behavior. Multilevel modeling on 163 young adults with 1508 observations indicated that the intervention significantly reduced both screentime and checking frequency compared to the control condition. However, participants reported higher levels of stress during the intervention, potentially due to the frustration of partial restrictions without full disengagement from their smartphones. These findings highlight not only the potential of multifaceted nudges to reduce smartphone use but also the importance of carefully selecting and combining strategies to avoid unintended stress. This study provides a practical, cost-free and scalable foundation for refining smartphone interventions, contributing to the growing body of research on nudge-based strategies to promote healthier phone habits.

With the abundance of social media content that promotes unrealistic beauty standards, there are growing concerns about the potential negative impact of social media use on body image satisfaction. While some studies highlight negative associations, others present null effects, pointing to methodological limitations like biased and unreliable self-reported screen time measures and a focus on singular platforms. Addressing these gaps, our study employed a daily diary method to objectively measure social media screen time across six major platforms ( Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook), alongside daily body image dissatisfaction among 252 young adults ( M_age = 21.67 years, 67.77% female) over 7 days. Through multilevel modeling, our analysis revealed no significant within- or between-person associations between social media screen time and body image dissatisfaction, a finding consistent across all platforms. In addition, the lack of association between social media screen time and body image dissatisfaction was consistent across several exploratory moderators such as sex, self-esteem, and perfectionistic self-presentation. The current study did not find strong evidence supporting the concerns surrounding the potential detrimental link between social media screen time and body image dissatisfaction.

As smartphones have become portable and immersive devices that afford social, informational, and recreational conveniences unbounded by physical restrictions, most daily activities have become closely intertwined with the presence of smartphones. This constant presence of smartphones in daily activities, however, may be concerning as some studies have suggested that smartphones—even their mere presence—can be distracting and can impair cognitive outcomes. However, such findings have not been consistently observed. To reconcile mixed findings, the current meta-analysis synthesized 166 effect sizes drawn from 53 samples and 33 studies including 4,368 participants on the effect of mere presence of smartphone on cognitive functions. It was found that the mere presence of smartphone had no significant effect on cognitive outcomes (d = −0.02, SE = 0.02, 95% CI [−0.06, 0.01], p = .246). Further, the effect of mere presence of smartphone was not moderated by demographics, trait smartphone dependency, or various methods for manipulating smartphone presence and assessing cognitive outcomes. These findings indicate that there is little reason at present to think that complete isolation from smartphones in a work environment would improve productivity and performance.