Cyberbullying victimization and the COVID-19 pandemic: a routine activity perspective

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic-induced shift to online learning resulted in students spending more time online while quarantining. Using data collected before and during the pandemic from representative samples of eighth graders, we explored differences in cyberbullying victimization, including factors in students’ daily lives that may contribute to cyberbullying, before and during COVID-19 through a routine activity lens. We found that students were more likely to experience cyberbullying during the pandemic than before and that parental guardianship, target visibility, and characteristics of victims help explain this difference. These findings add to our understanding of the unequal impact the pandemic may have on different groups while underlining the importance of parental guardianship and collaborative intervention.