Building Respectful Online Space (BROS): Evaluating a Co-designed Anti-cyberbullying Intervention Among Adolescents

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Cyberbullying

• Registration Number: NCT06796621
• Lead Sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong

Brief Summary

Background: The growing prevalence of cyberbullying throughout the world indicates the importance of anti-cyberbullying interventions, especially for adolescents. While few interventions target cyberbullying, content from different regions may not necessarily apply to local contexts, adolescents' viewpoints were not considered in the past designs, few local RCTs, and unclear sustainability.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminarily effects of the co-designed anti-cyberbullying intervention: Building Respectful Online Space (BROS).

Methods: A sample of around 90 aged 12 to 15 will be recruited from secondary schools in Hong Kong. This study will adopt a 2-arm experimental trial. Each class will be randomly assigned equally into the intervention arm (BROS) and control arm (Heathy Diet), and eligible students will be allocated to either arm accordingly. The intervention will be provided in one or 3 days based on the school schedule. Participants will be assessed at baseline, 3 weeks later, and 12-week follow-up assessments. The primary outcome is cyberbullying behaviour of perpetration and victimisation; the secondary outcome includes cyberbullying attitudes, sleep quality, and psychosocial well-being. Feasibility and acceptability will be assessed. And generalised estimating equations analysis will be used to investigate the research objectives.

Potential contributions: The results of this study will provide evidence-based support for using a blended approach to prevent cyberbullying, promote psychosocial well-being, and promote sleep health. This intervention is dedicated to using evidence-to-user-driven ideas to develop culturally sensitive interventions to effectively prevent cyberbullying in the future.

Detailed Description

There is a growing body of literature that recognises whole-school strategy can be effective in preventing cyberbullying (Lim et al., 2023). Interventions, such as NoTrap! in Italy (Palladino et al., 2016), Prev@cib in Spain (Ortega-Barón et al., 2019), Media Heroes in Germany (Schultze-Krumbholz et al., 2016), 'Friendly Attac' in Belgium (DeSmet et al., 2018; Zagorscak et al., 2019), and ViSC in Austria (Gradinger et al., 2016), have been shown to effectively prevent cyberbullying (Lim et al., 2023). Some school-based programmes integrate digital format into their intervention; for instance, the 'Cyber Friendly Schools' intervention in Australia (Cross et al., 2016) utilises the online modules to facilitate learning; the 'Friendly Attac' program (DeSmet et al., 2018) incorporates series games, and Vlaanderen et al. (2020) adopted a purely online approach to prevent cyberbullying in the Netherlands. A recent systematic review suggests that school-based intervention could comprehensively promote healthy online behaviours and reduce cyberbullying incidence among adolescents (Lan et al., 2022).

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-01
• Study First Submitted: 2025-01-22
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-01-22
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-01-22
• Study First Posted: 2025-01-28
• Last Update Posted: 2025-01-28
• Study Start: 2025-02-12
• Primary Completion: 2026-12-31
• Study Completion: 2027-12-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 120

Inclusion Criteria

• Students in 1st to 3rd grades in secondary schools
• Students are able to read and understand Chinese
• Students obtained informed consent signed by their parents or legal guardians

Exclusion Criteria

• Students in grades 4th through 6th who are heavily involved in homework and examination
• Students with severe diseases or co-occurring disorders
• Students' parents/ legal guardians who refuse to sign informed consent.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cyberbullying behaviour	Baseline, pre-intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months follow-up assessment after intervention	The Cyberbullying Behaviour Scale (CBBS) consists of E-Victimisation Scale (E-VS) and the E-Bullying Scale (E-BS), is the validated 11-item scale for measuring cyberbullying behaviour. The scale consist of two domain: 5-item of E-VS and 6-item of E-BS for adolescents with a 7-point Likert scale (Lam \& Li, 2013) that measure cyberbullying victimization and perpetration respectively. The sum score for E-VS range from 5-35, and E-BS from 5-42, and a higher score indicate severity of respective cyberbullying behavior (Lam \& Li, 2013). The Chinese version of CBBS will be used that was translated and validated by our research team.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cyberbullying attitude	Baseline, pre-intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months follow-up assessment after intervention	Cyberbullying Attitude Scale (CBAS) is used to identify positive cyberbullying attitude. The CBAS is a 9-item self-report scale using a 5-point Likert scale (Barlett et al., 2016). It consists of 5 items for harmful cyberbullying attitudes (HCA), which assess individuals' perceptions of cyberbullying perpetration, and 4 items for general cyberbullying characteristics (GCC). The range of HCA scores from 5 to 25 and the range of GCC scores from 4 to 20. A higher score indicates more harmful cyberbullying attitudes. The Chinese version of CBAS will be used that was translated and validated by our research team.
Mental well-being	Baseline, pre-intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months follow-up assessment after intervention	The Chinese version of the WHO 5-item Well-Being Index is used to assess participants' mental well-being (Fung et al., 2022). Each item is rated on a six-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 (at no time) to 5 (always), the total score range from 0 to 25. A higher score indicates greater mental well-being.
Sleep outcomes: Subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction	Baseline, pre-intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months follow-up assessment after intervention	The Chinese version of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) will be used to assess subjective sleep disruption and quality throughout the previous month (Ho et al., 2021). Subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disruptions, sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction are the seven components that comprise the components of the PSQI. The range of scores for each item is 0 (no difficulty) to 3 (extreme difficulty). The total score ranges between 0 and 21. Poorer quality of sleep is indicated by a higher overall score.
Life satisfaction	Baseline, pre-intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months follow-up assessment after intervention	The Chinese version of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) (SWLS) is used to assess global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with one's life (Sachs, 2003).It consists of 5 items with a 7-item Likert scale (Pavot \& Diener, 1993), ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) . The total score ranges from 7 to 35, with a higher score represent grater social well-being.