The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the intensive use of the internet for educational and recreational purposes, leading adolescents to be more exposed to cyberbullying. Empirical studies indicate that cyberbullying has become a pervasive problem among adolescents causing negative consequences like depression. Moreover, the global pandemic lockdown and quarantine measures gave rise to the demand for telepsychology and teletherapy to virtually address the psychological needs of netizens. Thus, utilizing Conklin's program development model, we created and experimentally tested an online intervention program to target the depressive symptoms experienced by cyberbullied adolescents. We integrated logotherapy and mindfulness to develop an eight-modular, Online Mindfulness-based Logotherapy Program (OnlineMLP). After being validated by experts in various disciplines, we experimentally pilot tested the efficacy of the OnlineMLP in a 3-h session per module in four weeks to a group (N = 10) of cyberbullied adolescents in Tamilnadu, India. The pilot study showed significantly that the OnlineMLP had a positive effect on the participants reducing their depressive symptoms. Furthermore, it confirmed that the online program's concepts and structure are reliable, feasible, and efficacious for testing a more extensive base of cyberbullied adolescents experiencing depressive symptoms.
Keywords: Covid-19; Cyberbullying; Depression; Logotherapy; Mindfulness; Online therapy.
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