Cyberbullying Prevention for Adolescents: Iterative Qualitative Methods for Mobile Intervention Design

Area of Science:

• Adolescent health
• Digital mental health
• Cyberpsychology

Background:

• Adolescent cybervictimization is linked to negative mental health outcomes.
• Existing screening for cyberbullying lacks effective intervention programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To refine and evaluate the acceptability of a mixed-modality intervention for adolescents with cyberharassment and cyberbullying victimization history.
• To utilize agile qualitative methods within pediatric care for intervention development.

Main Methods:

• Three iterative cycles of a mixed-modality intervention (brief in-clinic plus 8-week SMS messaging) with 19 adolescents (aged 13-17).
• Agile qualitative feedback from semistructured interviews after 2 weeks of messaging guided program refinement for subsequent iterations.
• Participant engagement assessed via daily response rates; acceptability measured by satisfaction questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Iterative feedback led to expanded intervention scope (e.g., web-based conflicts) and improved de-escalation/bystander skills.
• Overall daily message response rate was 88.34%, with engagement improving from 59.9% in Iteration 1 to 79.9% in Iteration 3.
• Participant satisfaction significantly increased across iterations, with excellent ratings rising from 0% to 86%.

Conclusions:

• Agile intervention refinement methodology, incorporating structured participant feedback, is valuable for developing technology-based adolescent interventions.
• The refined text message intervention demonstrates improved acceptability and engagement for addressing adolescent cybervictimization.