Cyberbullying is a social phenomenon which can bring severe harm to victims. Bystanders can show positive bystander behavior (e.g. defending) and decrease cyberbullying and its harm, or negative behavior (e.g. passive bystanding, joining) and sustain cyberbullying and its negative effects. Few interventions have currently targeted bystanders and evaluated results on their behavior or its determinants. The intervention consisted of a serious game specifically targeting cyberbullying bystander behavior. A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted among 8th graders (n ¼ 216) in two schools. Measurements were taken at baseline, immediately after the intervention and at 4-week followup. The serious game intervention resulted in significant improvements in self-efficacy, prosocial skills, and the intention to act as a positive bystander. These are mainly predictors of positive bystander behavior. No significant effects were found for predictors of negative bystander behavior. The intervention also increased witnessing of cyberbullying incidents, potentially a measure of awareness of cyberbullying taking place, and quality of life. No effects were found on behavior itself, bullying or cyberbullying prevalence. This brief serious game intervention affected determinants of bystander behavior and quality of life among adolescents. Further efforts are needed to address (negative) bystander behavior and cyberbullying involvement.

No abstract

As adolescents’ advertising literacy is not yet fully developed with regard to non-traditional advertising, they should be made more resilient to this contemporary advertising. Therefore, the current study conducted a three-level, between-subjects experiment (advertising literacy intervention: control condition versus informational booklet versus serious mini-game platform) to examine the effectiveness of advertising literacy interventions among adolescents (aged ten to sixteen). The results showed that an advertising literacy intervention (compared to no intervention) increased Belgian adolescents’ (N = 211, Mage = 13.22) perceived dispositional advertising literacy, and subsequently, their motivation to critically reflect on advertising. In addition, the advertising literacy serious mini-game platform (compared to the informational booklet) increased the experience of flow among the adolescents, which in turn positively affected enjoyment, and perceived learning. Perceived learning then further increased adolescents’ motivation to critically reflect on advertising and their motivation to interact with the learning materials.

New data collection methods and processing capabilities facilitate online personalization of advertisements but also challenge youth’s understanding of how these methods work. Teenagers are often unaware of the commercial use of their personal information and are susceptible to the persuasive effects of personalized advertising. This raises questions about their ability to engage in privacy-protecting behaviors. This article examines teenagers’ coping responses to commercial data collection and subsequent personalized advertising, considering their limited knowledge. Ten focus groups with 35 teenagers aged 12–14 were conducted. The findings show that teenagers hold certain folk theories (i.e., incomplete and/or inaccurate representations of reality) about how and why their personal information is being collected for commercial purposes (e.g., commercial data collection is unavoidable or all principles of privacy statements are the same). Their coping responses regarding commercial data collection (e.g., limiting information disclosure or refusing to accept privacy policies) and personalized advertising (e.g., trying to change settings or avoiding interaction) are often based on these folk theories and embedded in their everyday practices. Despite teenagers’ efforts, we argue that their responses might not always be effective. Implications for educators, advertisers, and policymakers are discussed.