Youth who harass their peers via the Internet are significantly more likely to suffer from behavioral and psychosocial problems than youth who don't harass others online, based on data from interviews with 1,500 adolescents aged 10–17 years reported in the August issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Although the analysis of Internet harassment is relatively new, the existing data suggest that children and adolescents who harass others online have mental health problems similar to the problems observed in off-line bullies. These problems include substance use, delinquency, and poor relationships with family members or caregivers, reported Michele L. Ybarra, Ph.D., of Internet Solutions for Kids Inc. of Irvine, Calif., and her colleagues.
To assess the nature of Internet harassment and the implications for adolescent health, the researchers reviewed data from the Second Youth Internet Safety Survey, a telephone questionnaire conducted in the United States between March and June 2005.
The survey included questions about how often the teens had used the Internet to harass or embarrass someone, and how many times they had made rude comments to someone online. The survey also included questions to assess behavior problems and off-line bullying (J. Adolesc. Health 2007;41:189–95).
Based on how often they reported engaging in any type of Internet harassment, the respondents were classified as “limited” (one to two times), “occasional” (three to five times), or “frequent” (six or more times) harassers.
Overall, 6% of the youth met the criteria for frequent harassers, another 6% met the criteria for occasional harassers, and 17% met the criteria for limited harassers.
Boys were three times more likely than girls to be frequent online bullies, while girls were twice as likely as boys to be limited online bullies. Off-line aggression problems were nine times more likely and rule-breaking behavior was seven times more likely among youth who were frequent online bullies.
The findings emphasize the need to ask children and adolescents about experiences with Internet harassment as victims, perpetrators, or both. “Youth who are limited or occasional perpetrators may represent an opportunity to intervene early,” the researchers noted.