Using Digital Health Technology to Prevent Bullying and Cyberbullying Among Elementary School Students

This project is designed to address the urgent need for an effective primary prevention approach to the problem of bullying and cyberbullying among elementary school students. The project involves developing, feasibility testing, and testing for the effectiveness an innovative new approach to the primary prevention of bullying utilizing both a serious (educational) videogame and facilitator-led, interactive class sessions. Using a cluster randomized controlled trial, the intervention will teach students how to respond to in-person and online bullying from the perspectives of perpetrator, victim, and bystander. The intervention enhances personal self-management skills, social skills, refusal skills, and other life skills needed to successfully navigate developmental tasks, increase resilience, and facilitate healthy psychosocial development. At the end of the initial intervention period, and at one- and two-year follow-ups, we will compare outcomes of students in the intervention and control groups with respect to changes in behaviors, norms, attitudes, and knowledge regarding bullying, cyberbullying, and substance use behavior.