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Victims of Known and Unknown Cyberstalkers: A Questionnaire Survey in an Italian Sample

Author

Listed:
  • Tatiana Begotti

    (Department of Psychology, Università di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy)

  • Mariano Alex Ghigo

    (Department of Psychology, Università di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy)

  • Daniela Acquadro Maran

    (Department of Psychology, Università di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy
    WOW-Work and Organizational Wellbeing Research Group, 10124 Torino, Italy)

Abstract

Cyberstalking is a behavior in which an individual, group, or organization uses information technology to harass one or more people, with possible consequences for the victims. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of cyberstalking in terms of physical and emotional consequences, depression, anxiety symptoms, attitudes toward telling of cyberstalking experiences, and coping strategies, comparing young adult victims of known cyberstalkers with those harassed by strangers. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 689 individuals. Of these, 242 victims were included in the analysis: 115 victims of unknown (UC) and 127 of known cyberstalkers (KC). The results emphasize that victims of KC more often reported fatigue as a physical symptom and sadness and lack of trust in others as emotional symptoms. In addition, scores for depressive symptoms and anxiety did not differ significantly between the two groups, whereas significantly higher scores for trait anxiety were found among victims of KC. Finally, victims of KC were significantly more inclined to use alcohol and drugs, reduce social contact with friends, buy a weapon, and try to reason with the cyberstalker, while victims of UC were more inclined to block online contact and ask a social network administrator to intervene. Implications of the findings were discussed, such as the need to intervene immediately and to promote victims’ ability to seek help.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatiana Begotti & Mariano Alex Ghigo & Daniela Acquadro Maran, 2022. "Victims of Known and Unknown Cyberstalkers: A Questionnaire Survey in an Italian Sample," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:8:p:4883-:d:795824
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yolanda Rodríguez-Castro & Rosana Martínez-Román & Patricia Alonso-Ruido & Alba Adá-Lameiras & María Victoria Carrera-Fernández, 2021. "Intimate Partner Cyberstalking, Sexism, Pornography, and Sexting in Adolescents: New Challenges for Sex Education," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.
    2. daniela acquadro maran & tatiana begotti, 2019. "Prevalence of Cyberstalking and Previous Offline Victimization in a Sample of Italian University Students," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, January.
    3. Kaur, Puneet & Dhir, Amandeep & Tandon, Anushree & Alzeiby, Ebtesam A. & Abohassan, Abeer Ahmed, 2021. "A systematic literature review on cyberstalking. An analysis of past achievements and future promises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Leanne Bowler & Cory Knobel & Eleanor Mattern, 2015. "From cyberbullying to well-being: A narrative-based participatory approach to values-oriented design for social media," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 66(6), pages 1274-1293, June.
    5. Tatiana Begotti & Martina Bollo & Daniela Acquadro Maran, 2020. "Coping Strategies and Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Young Adult Victims of Cyberstalking: A Questionnaire Survey in an Italian Sample," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-13, August.
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