Using web-based interactive visual novels to struggle with bullying in schools: An experimental study with children and adolescents

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of a web-based computer game, TheraBuddy, designed in the form of an interactive visual novel, on bystander intervention in bullying and social-emotional health among children and adolescents. The research employed a time-series design with pre-test, post-test, and control groups. A total of 123 students aged 10–16 participated in the study (62 in the experimental group and 61 in the control group), selected through stratified random sampling from 1 science high school, 1 social sciences high school, 2 Anatolian high schools, and 2 middle schools. The Bystander Intervention in Bullying Scale was used to assess participants' levels of bystander intervention, the Social-Emotional Health Survey to measure their social-emotional health, and the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire to determine their roles in bullying involvement. The findings indicated that the TheraBuddy intervention had a statistically significant and positive effect on bystander intervention. However, no significant differences were found in social-emotional health, either in the main effects or based on bullying roles, intervention exposure, gender, or educational level. Increases over time in bystander intervention scores among victims and uninvolved students were found to be significantly higher compared to bully-victims. The impact of the intervention on bystander intervention varied by the duration of gameplay and the completion rate of the intervention. In this context, the minimum effective dose was observed to be at least one hour of gameplay and completion of at least half of the content. No significant differences were found in the intervention's effectiveness on bystander intervention based on gender or educational level. Keywords: Bystander intervention, child and adolescent, interactive visual novel, social-emotional health, TheraBuddy