Vol.:(0123456789) Child & Youth Care Forum https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-022-09714-9 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER The Efects of a Cyberbullying Intervention Programme Among Primary School Students Ágnes Lukács J. 1  · Johanna Takács 1  · Zsuzsanna Soósné Kiss 2  · Máté Kapitány‑Fövény 3,4  · András Falus 5,6  · Helga Judit Feith 1 Accepted: 2 September 2022 © The Author(s) 2022 Abstract Background With the increase of cyberbullying, several intervention programmes have been created that aim at reducing cyber-victimisation and perpetration. Objective Our study presents the efects of the STAnD anti-cyberbullying programme with peer-education both on the short and the long run among lower and upper primary school students, with a focus on the participants’ cyberbullying roles. Method The sample comprised of 536 students who participated in the intervention pro- gramme, involving 36% lower and 64% upper primary school students. Participants were measured by a self-reported questionnaire before and right after the programme, then six months later. Results The main efect of the STAnD programme was a positive change in the partici- pants’ willingness to engage in help-seeking and their active-defending reaction, although this efect decreased after six months. The changes were larger among lower primary school students compared to upper primary school participants. Conclusion Our results imply that long-lasting and intensive health promotion programmes are necessary to reach a long-term intervention efect. Anti-cyberbullying programmes should take into consideration participants’ involvement and roles in cyberbullying. As our study was a non-randomised uncontrolled study design, thus interpretation of the efective- ness of the programme is limited. Keywords Cyberbullying · Cyberbullying involvement · Peer education · Efect · Primary school-aged students * Johanna Takács takacs.johanna@se-etk.hu Extended author information available on the last page of the article