- Multi‑component, theory‑driven interventions yield strongest effects: graded practice, timely feedback, reminders and multi‑session formats enhance outcomes.
- Families function as cross‑age safety systems; interventions should adopt family‑based, lifespan principles with boosters and cross‑sector coordination.
- Scalable macro measures include platform warnings and pause‑and‑verify prompts; research must standardise behavioural outcomes and use longer follow‑up.
Trauma Violence Abuse. 2026 Jul 23:15248380261462185. doi: 10.1177/15248380261462185. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Early online safety habits shape later behaviors, and core capabilities remain protective across ages, warranting population‑wide approaches. Families function as cross‑age safety systems with bidirectional learning and shared social learning mechanisms across cohorts, suggesting transferable, lifespan‑spanning intervention principles. This umbrella review synthesizes 66 systematic reviews and meta-analyses on digital interventions for cyberbullying and online harm across the lifespan. A comprehensive search following the PRISMA structure was conducted using databases including PubMed, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, Social Service Abstracts, Scopus, EMBASE, for reviews published through December 31, 2025. Stronger effects were observed for multi‑component, theory‑driven programs that combine easy‑to‑hard practice, timely feedback, and reminders. At the micro level, university bystander programs and media literacy showed the largest gains, particularly in multi‑session formats. At the meso level, organizational trainings produced immediate improvements with boosters and policy supports; community and clinical delivery improved reach for older adults when paired with assisted reporting. At the macro level, platform warning messages and pause‑and‑verify prompts offer scalable benefits, and gendered risk patterns and increasing campus fraud prevalence underscore the need for tailored scenarios and just‑in‑time prompts. Policy and practice should adopt a family‑based lens, integrate boosters and cross‑sector coordination. Future research should standardize behavioral outcomes, use pragmatic and hybrid designs with longer follow‑up, and expand to underserved settings and emerging threats.
PMID:42492049 | DOI:10.1177/15248380261462185
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