A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Electrophysiological Studies of Online Social Exclusion: Evidence for the Neurobiological Impacts of Cyberbullying

Abstract

Cyberbullying is an increasingly problematic psychosocial health risk, particularly in youth. Electroencephalography (EEG) is commonly utilized to investigate the potential effects of social behaviors on brain activity. Hence, the current paper provides a systematic review of EEG-related studies that have addressed cyberbullying-like behaviors. Initial searches from 4 databases returned 1150 unique articles, which were screened according to PRISMA guidelines. The 29 articles remaining after full text screening investigated online social exclusion, a method of cyberbullying. Across these studies, there was evidence of links between social exclusion and abnormalities in a range of event related potential (ERP) and EEG measures representative of deviance detection (“N2” ERP), response to detection (“P3” ERP), emotional attention (“late slow wave” ERP) and emotional regulation (“frontal theta” EEG). Meta-analysis demonstrated increased P3 and late slow wave amplitudes in response to social exclusion, as well as increases in frontal-medial theta power, particularly in child and adolescent samples. However, many studies had small sample sizes, and lacked longitudinal insight into the effects of recurrent ostracism on brain function. Future research should explore the effects of a broader range of cyberbullying behaviors on psychophysiology longitudinally, particularly in vulnerable populations such as adolescents.