9 in 10 U.S. Teens Have Been Cyberbullied

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Cyberbullying is widespread among U.S. teens and is linked to post-traumatic stress symptoms in middle- and high-school students, a new study says.

Nearly 9 of 10 teenagers have experienced cyberbullying, according to the study’s survey of nearly 2,700 U.S. middle- and high-school students.

And results show that even subtle forms of cyberbullying can cause psychological harm, researchers reported in the journal BMC Public Health.

Intentional exclusion and rejection created as much trauma among teens as explicit threats or harassment, researchers found.

Likewise, being the subject of gossip or cruel online comments took an emotional toll comparable to being harassed for personal traits like one’s race or religion, results show.

“Cyberbullying in any form – whether it’s exclusion from a group chat or direct threats – can lead to significant trauma in youth,” lead researcher Sameer Hinduja said in a news release. He’s a professor at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Social Work and Criminal Justice.

“We were surprised to find that no single type of cyberbullying caused more harm than others; all carried a similar risk of traumatic outcomes,” he said.

The survey, conducted in 2023, asked teens about 18 types of cyberbullying.

The most common forms of cyberbullying reported by adolescents were mean or hurtful online comments (56%); exclusion (53%); online rumors (53%); embarrassment or humiliation (50%); repeated unwanted contact via text or online (42%); and direct threats through text or direct messages (38%).

“What mattered most was the overall amount of cyberbullying: the more often a student was targeted, the more trauma symptoms they showed,” Hinduja said.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/mental-health/9-in-10-us-teens-have-been-cyberbullied