How are those with intellectual disabilities affected by cyberbullying? The research team of Cristina Jenaro, Noelia Flores, Vanessa Vegab Maribel Cruz, Ma. Carmen Pérez, and Víctor A. Torres from the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Chile, and the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí in Mexico provide more insight to answering this questions. They undertook multinational survey to analyze the analyze the frequency and characteristics of cyberbullying and related factors in individuals with intellectual disabilities. Their participant group was composed of 246 people attending education and training centres for adults with intellectual disabilities in Chile, Mexico and Spain. They collected information relating to sociodemographic information, healthy and unhealthy behaviours (e.g. smoking, doing exercise), Language competency, Depression, Technology use and cyberbullying. The data gathering took place from December 2015 to April 2017 and required significant effort using one-on-one interviews to help participants understand the questions and visual aide as needed.
The results suggest that people with intellectual disabilities, even those with access to support are vulnerable to cyberbullying at a similar rate to the general population. Further they found that rather that the amount to which they used technology it was how they used the technology that had some impact on how vulnerable they were to being bullied.
cite:
Jenaro, C., Flores, N., Vega, V., Cruz, M., Pérez, M. C., & Torres, V. A. (2018). Cyberbullying among adults with intellectual disabilities: Some preliminary data. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 72, 265-274.
Source:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2017.12.006
