Regular family meals can protect adolescents against the negative effects of cyberbullying, according to a latest study.

It has been found that 43 percent of teenagers aged 13-17 have reported they have experienced some form of cyberbullying in the past 12 months, according to Enough is Enough, an organization that aims to increase internet safety for kids and families.

Studies have indicated that cyberbullying can trigger suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety in children. Moreover, it causes suicidal thoughts in kids and adolescents more than traditional bullying.

Frank Elgar, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University's Faculty of Medicine, Canada, and his team set out to find whether frequency of family meals influenced the effects of cyberbullying on the mental health of adolescents.

In order to reach the findings, which have been published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, the researchers examined 20,385 adolescents from Wisconsin.

The researchers looked at whether the adolescents were exposed to cyberbullying or traditional face-to-face bullying, and how these forms of bullying had an impact on mental health outcomes, such as anxiety, depression, self-harm, substance use, suicidal attempts and suicidal thoughts. Furthermore, they gathered information on the adolescents' regularity of family meals.

It was found that adolescents who experienced cyberbullying were 2.6-4.5 times likely to have substance use, behavioral and emotional problems than those who experienced traditional bullying.

Moreover, these problems were found to be common among adolescents who had fewer family meals, the researchers noted.

The findings suggest that regular family meals might protect adolescents against the effects of cyberbullying, because of the family communication and contact these family meals involve.

Elgar said that parental involvement in children's lives and online supervision can go a long way in tackling cyberbullying.