Abstract
Cyberbullying is a salient risk in digitally mediated university settings, yet evidence on prevention-oriented patterns in Central Asian higher education remains limited. This study describes and compares self-reported cyberbullying exposure and selected prevention-related patterns among university students in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Using an anonymous cross-sectional online survey (N = 420; n = 210 per country), the study estimated the prevalence of cyberbullying, examined the distribution of common forms, and explored variation by year of study and digital safety training status. Overall, 58% of respondents reported experiencing cyberbullying, with higher exposure in Kyrgyzstan (61%) than in Kazakhstan (55%). Verbal abuse was the most frequently reported form in both countries (28% in Kyrgyzstan; 22% in Kazakhstan), while unauthorized information sharing was more prominent in Kazakhstan (18% vs. 10%). Exposure decreased across academic years (65% in first-year students to 35% in fourth-year students). Students who reported participating in formal digital safety training had lower exposure (25%) than those without training (60%), although the cross-sectional design does not support causal inference. The findings underscore cyberbullying as a widespread concern among surveyed university students and suggest that prevention efforts may benefit from early-stage interventions, skills-oriented digital safety training, and institutional measures responsive to distinct victimization profiles across contexts.