Does a self-help online psycho-educational program on cyber bullying lead to increased confidence and help-seeking behaviours amongst adolescents?

The main aim of this research was to develop and evaluate the 'Increasing Resilience to Cyber Bullying' program (IRCB). The IRCB program is an online, self-guided Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-based psycho-educational intervention that was developed in response to the clear need for adolescents to have access to a psychological intervention program that promotes effective coping in response to cyber bullying and encourages help-seeking behaviours. The present study found evidence that the IRCB program was effective in increasing adolescents' likelihood of using the coping skills of self-compassion and challenging unhelpful thinking to cope with an experience of cyber bullying. A further outcome of the current research was a significant increase in adolescents' help-seeking attitudes and behavioural intentions to engage with counselling services, in the event of being a victim of cyber bullying.