journal article·2025-09-16Open access

Comparative Analysis of Classification Models for Cyberbullying Detection in University Environments

Camila Barrios-Cogollo, Jorge Gómez Gómez, Emiro De-La-Hoz-Franco

Applied Sciences· Volume 15· Issue 18

Abstract

Cyberbullying is a growing concern in university settings, with significant consequences on students’ mental, physical, and social health. This study evaluates the structural quality of the “CyberBullying University Students” dataset, which collects sociodemographic and psychological variables as well as cyberbullying experiences, in 615 German university students. Data quality assessment metrics were applied, and seven supervised classification models were trained to detect cyberbullying cases. Decision Tree models were the best-performing algorithms (achieving an average accuracy of 99.1% with outstanding evaluation metrics: 100% precision, 98.6% recall, and 99.2% F1 score). The findings suggest that this model can be a useful tool for the early detection of cyberbullying in educational settings, provided that it is integrated with an ethical approach and professional support. It is concluded that the use of artificial intelligence models can strengthen institutional prevention strategies, especially when combined with educational programs that promote empathy and institutional justice.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Computer Science and Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de la Costa CUC, Barranquilla 080002, Colombia

Departamento de Ingeniería de Sistemas y Telecomunicaciones, Universidad de Córdoba, Montería 230002, Colombia

Funding

Vice-Rector’s Office for Research and Outreach at the University of Córdoba · Universidad de la Costa CUC

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