For many people, family mealtimes have become a thing of the past. However, a new study has found that young people may be protected from the effects of cyberbullying if they regularly eat meals with their families.

According to Canadian researchers, one in five teenagers currently experience cyberbullying. They decided to look into this further by surveying over 20,000 teenagers, asking them about a range of issues such as cyberbullying, face-to-face bullying, anxiety, depression, substance use, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

"We found that emotional, behavioural and substance use problems are 2.6 to 4.5 times more common among victims of cyberbullying. And these impacts are not due to face-to-face bullying, they are specific to cyberbullying," noted Prof Frank Elgar of McGill University.

However, the study found that the effects of cyberbullying were more noticeable in teenagers who had fewer family dinners. The researchers believe that family contact and communication may reduce some of the more distressing aspects of this type of bullying.

Prof Elgar pointed out that as so many teenagers use social media, and cyberbullying is so hard for parents and teachers to monitor, ‘it is critical to identify protective factors for youths who are exposed to cyberbullying'.

He also called on parents to get more involved with their teenagers' online activities.

"Checking in with teens about their online lives may give them tools to manage online harassment or bullying that can easily go undetected," he said.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, JAMA Pediatrics.