Gender differences in cyber dating violence among adolescents and young adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Despite the growing body of research on cyber dating violence, a comprehensive understanding of gender differences in cyber-violent behaviors across developmental stages remains limited. The main purpose of this meta-analytic review was to estimate the direction and magnitude of gender differences in cyber dating violence perpetration and victimization by synthesizing results from various studies. The second purpose of this study was to examine the effect of potential moderators (i.e., continent, age, grade level, time frame, method of survey administration, the metric of the outcome, study design, publication status, and publication year) on these differences. Various databases were used to identify relevant studies, including PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, PsycINFO, ERIC, and ProQuest. Eighty-one individual studies with a total sample of 70,233 participants, ranging in age from 10 to 30 years (M = 18.94), were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria in the present study. Most studies were conducted in North America and Europe with the largest proportions from the United States and Spain. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant gender differences (women vs. men; girls vs. boys) in perpetration and victimization of cyber dating violence. Moderator analyses showed that grade level and sample age were statistically significant moderators of gender differences in cyber dating violence victimization. However, other moderators (continent, time frame, method of survey administration, the metric of the outcome, study design, publication status, and publication year) were not statistically significant. This study contributes to understanding gender differences in cyber-violent behaviors during adolescence and emerging adulthood and highlights the importance of some moderators when developing targeted prevention and intervention strategies.