A Systematic Scoping Review on Cyberbullying Involving Ethnic Minority and Indigenous Youth: Toward Culturally Sensitive Research and Interventions

Ethnic minority and Indigenous youth represent particularly vulnerable populations for involvement in cyberbullying. The existing literature is marked by conceptual confusion and methodological heterogeneity, highlighting the need for a scoping review to map current research in this area. This systematic scoping review provides an overview of empirical research conducted worldwide on cyberbullying involving ethnic minorities and Indigenous children and adolescents, with the goal of informing future research and offering relevant implications for interventions. The review was conducted in accordance with JBI guidelines, and results were reported following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews). The following databases were searched: Academic Search Premier, ERIC, PsychINFO (OVID), PubMed, Scopus, SocINDEX, Web of Science, Medline, and ProQuest. The review included peer-reviewed studies published in English, involving children and adolescents (participants’ mean age below 18 years) identified as ethnic minorities or Indigenous, and reporting data on cyberbullying related to ethnicity or indigeneity. Following a two-stage screening process, 166 articles were selected for inclusion. Findings suggest that research on this topic is expanding. However, literature remains characterized by limited geographical coverage, underrepresentation of ethnic and Indigenous groups, scarce contextual and theoretical positionality, and a predominance of quantitative approaches. A lack of intervention studies and of research addressing identity-based cyberbullying and perpetration is evident. By disentangling and focusing on the role of ethnicity and indigeneity in cyberbullying, this scoping review represents a crucial step toward guiding future research focusing on the development of contextually responsive prevention and intervention strategies.