The Impact of Cyberstalking

Abstract

To access the diversity of the population who define themselves as having been cyberstalked and to assess the levels of anxiety and trauma that victims reported. Participants who were self-defined cyberstalking victims (N = 353) were asked to complete an online survey, which consisted of items relating to the experience of offline harassment and cyberstalking, general anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Participants were also asked to report on the type of relationship they had with the harasser, changes in working life, relationships, finance and third parties subsequent to the experience of being stalked. Overall, the findings revealed that victims of harassment may suffer high levels of psychological distress as a consequence of the experience, with victims of cyberstalking experiencing psychological effects which are broadly comparable to the symptoms seen in PTSD, leaving the victim experiencing feelings of isolation, irritability and guilt. In addition, as with other research on the effects of adverse experiences on mental health outcomes, the respondents of the survey reported much higher levels of psychological distress than levels that have been reported in the general population. It is suggested that both offline and cyberstalking victims suffer comparable high levels of psychological distress as a consequence of the experience and, despite the wide variation in individual experience and reactions to being cyberstalked, this study was able to determine patterns of psychological distress which were comparable to the symptoms associated with PTSD. Individuals displaying symptoms of PTSD find themselves experiencing adverse effects in major domains of life activity, such as social relations and occupational activities.

Victims’ Voices: Understanding the Emotional Impact of Cyberstalking and Individuals’ Coping Responses

“…With regard to social consequences, the only difference was that traditional stalking was associated more with changes to the victim's employment status and social routines whereas cyberstalking was more strongly associated with loss of significant relationships. More recently, using standardized measures of anxiety and PTSD, Short, Guppy, Hart, and Barnes (2015) reported that both traditional stalking and cyberstalking victims experience comparable elevated levels of psychological distress as a consequence of the ordeal. In line with this, when Dreßing, Bailer, Anders, Wagner, and Gallas (2014) presented users of a German social networking site with a list of psychosomatic and psychosocial symptoms, over half of the individuals who had experienced cyberstalking reported anger, helplessness, and anxiety.…”

Once bitten, twice shy: An exploratory study of victim impact from and adoption of self-protective behaviours against cyber abuse

“…While most established research has focused on conventional crimes such as burglary, sexual and violent offences, more recently the effects of online crime such as cyber abuse 3 have been studied (Sheridan and Grant, 2007;Hensler-McGinnis, 2008;Dreßing et al, 2014;Nobles et al, 2014;Short et al, 2014;Short et al, 2015;Worsley et al, 2016;Fissel, 2018;Fissel and Reyns, 2019). Research suggests that, much like the victims of conventional crimes, victims of cybercrimes such as cyber abuse experience a variety of negative effects including persistent psychological impairment and issues of personal insecurities (Parsons-Pollard and Moriarty, 2009;Dreßing et al, 2014;Nobles et al, 2014).…”

“…Victims of cyberstalking were also more likely to report adopting self-protective behaviours compared with victims of offline stalking. Short et al (2015) compared the victim impact from offline and online harassment and found that both could result in high levels of psychological distress comparable to the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. In a different setting, Hensler-McGinnis (2008) examined a sample of university students and found that cyberstalking victimization was significantly associated with trauma and impairment in academic/career functioning.…”

Coping Strategies and Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Young Adult Victims of Cyberstalking: A Questionnaire Survey in an Italian Sample

“…Reference [10] showed that female victims of cyberstalking (stalking by means of email, text messages or the internet) made up 4% of all 18-to 29-year-old women in the EU. Short and colleagues [11] analyzed data from 353 self-defined victims of stalking and found that the majority of the victims were female (240) between the ages of 20 and 39 (58.6%). In a previous study conducted by two of the authors of this work [12,13] that involved 107 young adult self-declared victims of cyberstalking, the findings showed that the victims were mainly females (61%).…”