Traditional school bullying and cyberbullying in Chinese societies: Prevalence and a review of the whole-school intervention approach

•A review of traditional school and cyberbullying in Chinese societies is provided.•Characteristics of perpetrators, victims, and offense circumstances are discussed.•A review of the whole-school anti-bullying intervention approach is provided.•Its origin, key components, and factors leading to its effectiveness are described.•Potential implications for its application in Chinese societies are discussed.

Traditional school bullying and cyberbullying have been a growing concern globally. In this review, we first review the prevalence of traditional school bullying and cyberbullying in selected major Chinese societies, namely the Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Empirical findings on the characteristics of bullying perpetrators, victims, and the offense circumstances are described. As an intervention strategy, we then comprehensively review the whole-school intervention approach in tackling traditional school bullying and cyberbullying. Its origin, key components, and different factors that may contribute to the effective implementation of the whole-school approach in preventing and reducing bullying behaviors among children and adolescents are discussed. We conclude the review with potential implications for the application of this intervention approach in tackling traditional school bullying and cyberbullying in Chinese societies.